


What's Fair at the Fair

by Onhiro



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: F/F, I have plans for this, Minor Angst, but Amanda's home life isn't all that great, but haven't had the time to really bang things out, drama!Amanda, let me know what you think!, nowhere near as bad as WADB, wrestler!Hannah
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2020-09-27 22:31:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20415361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onhiro/pseuds/Onhiro
Summary: Amanda O'Neill has been working at the local county fair for years now, ever since she was thirteen. A nice way to get some pocket change, and while it was a bit sad, the carny folk gave her a sense of belonging, of family. But then, in the summer between her junior and senior year of high school, she spots a trio of girls from Luna Nova, the prep school the next town over. Taking a chance, she challenges one of them to her arm-wrestling game that she was running, not knowing just how profoundly the decision would change her entire life!





	1. What's Fair at the Fair

##  [What’s Fair at the Fair](https://onhiro.tumblr.com/post/183588768772/whats-fair-at-the-fair)

Amanda O’Neill _loved_ the summer. Long days and warm nights, no school, no responsibilities, just time to have fun, hang out with her friends, and get into mischief, something she took to with relish. But one of the best part of the summer were the county fairs. She always felt a bit of a kinship with the carny folk. Outcasts, at times viewed with suspicion and derision, but people who worked hard, all the same. People who strove to bring some joy and entertainment to others…and if some of that was a bit underhanded (seriously, who actually expected to really _win _at carnival games, y’all _know_ they’re rigged!) so much the better.

The county fair that set up at the fairgrounds just down the road from her house was one of her favorite places in the world, and she had been working there for four years now, ever since she was thirteen and looking for an escape from her home life which…well, which was less than stellar, to say the least. The carny folk had at first viewed the pugnacious and fiery-haired girl who simply showed up one day with some concern and confusion, but rather than jeer at them, she had simply displayed a desire for acceptance for her fierce spirit, a sense of family. The carnival staff had shrugged and figured why not. She wasn’t paid with money, of course, not until she was sixteen, but for those first three years, she had helped clean up, helped behind the scenes, did whatever she could for her newfound friends and family, spending hours and hours per day at the fair. Even at that age, she had known that it wasn’t…wasn’t actually _good_ that her family never seemed to care where she spent her days, that they should be concerned that one of their children disappeared for long stretches of time. But…they never were.

But that was okay! Her new family, rough though they were around the edges, accepted her and even started teaching her the tricks of the trade, and upon reaching sixteen, she was able to even make a little money, and did pretty good as a hawker and was even trusted to man some of the rides. She so loved the summer!

And then time continued to pass. She turned seventeen, and it was now the final summer that she had left of high school, and she wasn’t quite certain what she was going to do after her senior year. Her grades were pretty decent, but not good enough to get her into a good college. When she brought up her concerns about her future with the other fair employees, they all laughed, telling her to enjoy the summer. They also surprised her with her own booth, something that _almost_ brought tears to her eyes. Especially since it was suited to her strengths…literally so. She had amazed the staff before after the rides were all closed down and they were all hanging around before going home in how well she could arm wrestle. She wasn’t undefeated, but she had far more wins than losses. And so her booth was just that. People paid to arm wrestle her, and if they won, they could walk away with a cut of the overall prize money.

Some people did win, of course, mostly the guys who obviously spent _way_ too much time at the gym, but the rule was you could only arm wrestle once, so the same person couldn’t keep playing her and taking her money. But, as before, she won far more often than she lost, and she was already making more money a week and a half into the fair season than she had all of last year.

So yeah, she was feeling pretty good about herself and definitely cocky when she spied the three of them. Out of towners, her eyes immediately saw, dressed in expensive clothes that stuck out almost like a sore thumb, despite it being casual wear. The blonde with tea green highlights seemed really stuck up, and the one with the black hair didn’t seem much better, but the auburn-haired one seemed a bit more down to earth, hazel eyes glancing at the different gaming booths with ill-disguised interest, and though her clothes were obviously designer, they were much more casual than the other two, a baggy hoodie and jeans that actually kind of surprised Amanda. Sure, the sun had set, but it was still warm out. But eh, some people wore shorts in states that had real winters, it wasn’t too unusual to see someone wearing a hoodie in the summer.

Pitching her voice to carry, she began her routine. “Come one, come all, and see how your skill matches against the mighty arms of the Amazing O’Neill!” she cried, eyes still locked on the trio as they glanced her way. “Many have tried to take my prize money, and many have failed! Come, only ten dollars for a try, and a chance to walk away with half the money I’ve earned so far today!”

They seemed interested, and Amanda blinked, slightly confused as to why she was so intent on hooking one of them…well, she had to be honest with herself. She wanted to hook the auburn-haired girl. There was something about her that perked her interest and drew her attention. She had to hide her grin as the thought struck her…not very often that a pretty girl like that would literally pay her to hold her hand! “How about you, with the hoodie?” she called, and both of the auburn-haired girl’s eyebrows shot up as she grinned with amusement, and she pointed at herself. “Yes, you! You seem like a strong girl, think you can take me?” At her question, the other girl turned and spoke briefly to her friends, and the blonde pinched the bridge of her nose, an annoyed look on her face as the black-haired girl rolled her eyes. “It’s okay, it’s okay…if you’re scared of losing, it’s fine…”

_That_ lit a competitive fire in the girl’s eyes, and without another word to her friends, she strode briskly forward, eyes roaming over Amanda’s tomboyish clothes and figure, a slight blush dusting her cheeks, and Amanda almost couldn’t believe her luck, if she read that look right. Cute as all get out _and_ interested in girls? Well, shucks!

Then the girl was sitting in the stool across the small table from her, pushing up the sleeve of her hoodie so that it was past her elbow (revealing surprisingly muscular forearms…that should have been Amanda’s first warning, really…) and after sliding a ten dollar bill across the table, she propped her elbow on the table, and Amanda followed suite with a confident grin. “So, to whom do I owe the pleasure?” she asked, and the girl smirked back at her, the competitive fire still burning bright in her eyes.

“Beat me and maybe you’ll find out!” she replied, and Amanda stared at her, wide-eyed for a moment before she laughed. 

“Ho-ho-ho, y’all got some fire to ya. I _like_ that!” she crowed as their hands found each other, and Amanda very pointedly ignored the jolt that ran through her at the contact as she set herself. “On your call, sweetie,” she said, and the girl nodded.

“On your mark, get set…_go_!”

Now…it was fairly well established at this point that Amanda, for all her lean muscled appearance suggested, was actually pretty dang strong. To date, the only woman to have actually beaten her was Jasminka, and that didn’t count, given that her school friend was the strongest girl in the county and could have been a member of the strong man routine should she have been interested, and _was_ a member of the local competitive eating team, but that was another story… Her school friend Akko was pretty close, but if they didn’t end in a draw, then Amanda usually took it. And so it came as a complete surprise when, instead of the quick victory that she expected, she and the mystery girl were locked immediately into an epic struggle, both of them putting all their effort into besting the other, but their clasped hands didn’t budge an inch either way. Gritting her teeth even as her face grew red and sweat started to stand out on her forehead, Amanda continued to push…at least it appeared as though her mysterious opponent was struggling just as hard as she was.

The struggle went on, with the girl’s friends starting to cheer her on, and a small crowd gathered to witness the epic showdown. And damn it if Amanda really didn’t start to freakin’ _like_ this girl as they continued to struggle against one another. Not many people could hold their own against her, so for this girl to do so…then her hand went an inch towards her side, and she almost grinned. Okay, progress, progress was good! But then the girl grunted with effort, and their hands returned to the middle of the table. Good lord, just who _was_ this girl?!

Then the auburn-haired girl was talking, grinning at her, face flushed and eyes glittering with the joy brought by a good competition. “You know…” she said just barely loud enough for Amanda to hear, “…the only reason I said yes is because I think you’re pretty cute.”

Amanda blinked, concentration broken. “What?” she asked, completely flabbergasted…just as the back of her hand hit the padded surface of the table. She blinked again before shaking her head, confused as to what just happened, even as the assembled crowd cheered on the girl and her friends slapped her on the back in congratulations.

The girl stared into Amanda’s shocked eyes for a moment before she laughed softly. Then she was offering her hand to shake. “Hannah England, reigning champion of girl’s wrestling, Luna Nova Prep School.”

“Oh,” Amanda replied almost dumbly, hesitating before taking the girl’s hand and shaking it. Luna Nova…it took a lot of money and talent to get into the school that was in the next town over, and if this Hannah was the champion wrestler there, then it was no wonder Amanda had lost. “Uh…Amanda O’Neill. Local delinquent, carny folk extraordinaire,” she said, blushing slightly at the amused laugh Hannah gave. “So, uh, yeah. You won. Let me get you your prize money.”

To her surprise, Hannah shook her head. “No, don’t worry about that. Like I said, the only reason I really did this is because I think you’re cute. But…I do deserve a prize. How about…your phone number?”

Amanda blinked at that, before a delighted grin took to her face. “I think that’s fair,” she said before quickly digging through her bag and finding some scrap paper and a pen, and she quickly scribbled down her phone number. “Here.”

Hannah took the paper, glancing down at it with a warm smile, and Amanda’s blush deepened at the tender expression. Then Hannah was looking back up at her. “Thank you, and you will be hearing from me, Amanda. And I have to say, if you did that well against me, then I rather expect that you not lose to anyone else for the rest of the night…”

Amanda grinned at that. “I won’t. I promise.”

And Amanda was a woman of her word. She didn’t lose a single other arm wrestling match that night, she was happy to report when she got the first text from Hannah, the first of many to come…


	2. A Chance Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shortly after school starts up again, Amanda and her friends are at the local super market when Sucy spots some girls from Luna Nova. Not one to give up the chance for a good prank, Amanda and the gang get ready to prank the preppy girls when a surprised voice calls out her name from behind her. 
> 
> ...Seriously, what were the chances of them meeting like this?

“Pfft. Look at those preppy girls.”

Sucy’s voice was dryly cutting, and Amanda looked up from the display of instant noodles at the supermarket at her friend…well, more accurately, her acquaintance. Sucy still scared her after the frog incident in Biology, and she just wasn’t certain what Akko saw in the other girl. But, be that as it may, Sucy was part of their clique at school, and the six of them had decided to pick up some snacks and stuff at the store after school. “Preppy girls?” Amanda asked absently as her attention returned to the noodles. She was trying to decide on whether to get the big box of chicken flavored noodles, or splurge and get the individual packets and go for a variety of flavors like oriental and shrimp. Funny, though. Sucy knew most of the preppy girls that went to their school, and couldn’t care less about them. Kinda surprising that she would even mention them…

“Yeah, looks like they go to that prep school over in Blytonbury, that really hard to get into one.”

“You mean Luna Nova?” Amanda asked, hopeful surprise flitting through her as she turned to look down the aisle, but she didn’t see the one person who went there that she actually wanted to see.

“…Yeah,” Sucy said as she narrowed her visible eye at Amanda. “Kinda weird to see you excited about them,” she muttered suspiciously, and then grinned evilly. “You wanna prank them?”

Amanda hesitated. She hadn’t really mentioned Hannah to her friends, despite texting Hannah pretty regularly since they met at the fair. She had grown to appreciate the other girl’s sharp wit, and was very quickly considering her a long distance friend. Well…not really _long distance_, per se, she was only thirty minutes away, but they hadn’t had the chance to meet face-to-face since that night in the fair. It would be awesome if she were here at the store. Wouldn’t that be a coincidence!

Then she blinked, reality crashing down around her. It _would_ be a coincidence for Hannah to have made the trip to Glastonbury just to happen to be at the store at the same time as her. It was almost a mathematical impossibility. And if some stuck up Luna Nova kids were hanging out in the store, then why not prank them? “Alright,” she said, a mischievous grin taking to her face. “Let’s go find the others.”

Five minutes later found them huddled with Cons, Jasminka, Akko, and Lotte as they explained their plan to prank the Luna Nova students. Lotte looked worried and slightly disapproving, but that was pretty normal for her. Cons looked…well, like Cons, dour and stern, and Jasminka was still smiling like she always was as she ate from a bag of salt and vinegar chips. No, it was Akko who was obviously the most excited about the idea of pranking the preppy girls from Luna Nova.

“What do you think, the bait and switch?” she asked, excitedly bouncing on the balls of her feet, and Amanda grinned.

“Sounds about right. How about…condoms and lube?”

Then Sucy piped up, face decidedly evil. “And a cucumber…and like, the biggest zucchini you can find,” she said, and Jas nodded before making her way over to the produce section.

“Guys, I don’t know if this is a great idea,” Lotte cautioned, and Amanda scoffed as she waved a dismissive hand.

“Nah, it’s okay. It’s just embarrassing, no one’s gonna get hurt. You and Cons keep an eye on the targets, Akko and I will go get the condoms and lube.”

Lotte just sighed heavily and nodded begrudgingly. “Fiiiine.”

It didn’t take very long after that, and soon she, Akko, and Jas were peering around the corner of one of the aisles at the four girls wearing the Luna Nova uniform, looking over various bags of chips and the like, and Amanda grinned wolfishly. Perfect! Then she blinked as she realized that one of them looked familiar, and it took her a moment to place her. That’s right! She was the dark haired girl who was with Hannah at the fair. Amanda felt annoyance prickle across her at that. Figures that she would show up and not Hannah! At least the other girl from that night wasn’t here, and she didn’t recognize the other three girls at all. Alright, now, how to distract them without them catching on that something was up…

“Amanda, is that you?”

She just barely bit back a startled yelp as she jumped, and the boxes of condoms (and not the standard, lame ones, she went all out for this…ribbed, studded, pretty much the most exotic of the selection they had at the store) fell out of her arms, clattering on the floor. She spun, heart pounding, but then froze as she recognized the sight of Hannah.

Oh.

Oh _my_. 

It…it wasn’t fair for her to look like _that_! The baggy hoodie at the fair had hidden most of her physique, but the Luna Nova uniform that was cut to her form did no such thing, and Amanda almost started to drool at Hannah’s broad shoulders and very well-muscled arms. Okay, looking like that? She could totally believe that she was the champ wrestler at Luna Nova. _Okay, down girl, you might still be able to do the prank._

But then Hannah’s eyes flitted down to the floor where the boxes of condoms lay scattered, and then to the lube that Akko was holding and the *ahem* phallic vegetables that Jas had. “What are you doing?” she asked, voice obviously confused as she peered down the aisle and towards her friends.

“I…well, you see…we were just…” Amanda stammered, glancing at her friends, who seemed transfixed by Hannah’s appearance. And why wouldn’t they? Because _dayum_! No, wait, down girl! Stay focused!

Hannah frowned slightly. “Are you…trying to prank my friends?” she asked, and Amanda flushed. She was generally good enough at this sort of thing to not get caught so obviously red handed. Grimacing, she gave a short, terse nod, and tried to brace herself for the disappointed scolding that was sure to follow. But then, to her surprise, Hannah grinned as she crouched down to pick up the condom boxes. “Alright, I’m in. Here,” she said as she handed Amanda back the boxes. 

“What?” Amanda asked, almost dumbly.

Hannah rolled her eyes, a smile still on her lips. “Your prank. I’m in on it. It’ll be funny. Now, I’ll go up and put these bags of chex mix in the cart and distract the others. Once Babs, Avery, Mary, and Blair have their attention on me, you guys come up and put your stuff in the cart. Think you can quietly get them underneath the bags of mix?”

Was this actually happening? Was Hannah, who had absolutely no right looking that hot, btw, really going to help them prank her friends? “Uh, yeah, we should be able to…”

Hannah grinned, eyes sparkling with amusement. “Perfect! Alright, you ready?”

The next few minutes were spent in heart-pounding excitement. True to her word, Hannah went first and dropped her stuff into the half full shopping cart before directing the attention of her friends at some of the other products on the aisle’s shelves, and the three of them quickly and quietly made their way to the cart. Heart pounding with the fear of getting caught, Amanda was nonetheless able to silently lift the bags of chex mix, allowing them to deposit their cargo into the cart. A quick glance up revealed the other four Luna Nova students with their backs still to them and Hannah smirking slightly as she debated the merits of sour cream and onion chips versus salt and vinegar. Mission success!

They wrapped their shopping up after that, wanting to get done ahead of the Luna Nova students. They managed it, and were waiting in the area just past the registers as the preppy students started to get their items scanned. You could almost count down to the moment when the contraband was revealed, and Amanda had to bite her cheek to keep from howling with laughter at the first horrified screech that the black haired girl from the fair let out when she comprehended exactly what lay beneath the chex mix. She whirled on her stocky, auburn haired friend with an indignant: “_Hannah!_”

For her part, Hannah was able to maintain a look of innocence as the others timidly plucked the offending items out, their faces bright red. “What? It wasn’t me! I mean, come on, it’s hilarious, but I never had the chance to, and you know it!”

Amanda had to turn away at the point. “Come on, girls, let’s go,” she urged, eager to get away so that they could all laugh properly. So Hannah was apparently the prankster of the group. God, could she be any more perfect?

They were in the parking lot, all piling into the station wagon that Akko’s mom let them use when she heard her name being shouted, and she turned to see Hannah waving at her excitedly. Quirking a brow, she glanced at her friends who were watching her with curious eyes, and she realized she’d have to explain just who Hannah was yet. But Akko grinned before making a shooing motion with her hands.

Shrugging, she jogged over to where the Luna Nova girls were standing around a big and very expensive looking SUV. “See?” Hannah was saying to the black-haired girl from the fair, “I told you I saw Amanda, Barbara.”

Barbara was watching her with narrowed, suspicious eyes, a residual blush still on her cheeks. “What a coincidence,” she muttered dryly. 

Thankfully, three years in the drama club served Amanda well in this situation. “Hannah?” she asked, the picture of confused innocence. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in Blytonbury, what brings you out to our little town?”

Hannah grinned. “Oh, nothing much, just having a house party with an acquaintance who lives out this way,” she said, and for a moment, Amanda’s blood ran cold, fear that the girls before her were getting involved with bad folk striking her like a frigid wave.

Somehow she was able to feign nonchalance. “Oh? Who’s that?”

“Frank Casterly,” she replied, and Amanda almost let out a sigh of relief. Oh, good, the Casterly family. They adamantly refused to get involved with her brother’s, ah, _business_, and were all of them fairly clean cut.

“Oh, that’s cool,” Amanda said, nonchalantly stuffing her hands into her pockets. Then a thought suddenly struck her. “Oh! Hey! What are you guys doing in a couple of weeks?” she asked, barely able to keep her excitement at bay.

“What, like, in the beginning of October?” Barbara asked.

“Yeah! See, our high school’s drama department puts on a haunted maze every year at the fairgrounds for a grade. We have a lot of fun doing it, and we’ve even been regularly rated as one of the scariest haunted mazes in the entire state!” she boasted, puffing out her chest proudly. “It’s the last year for a lot of us, and so we’re going to go all out this year! I figured, why not invite you and anyone you want to bring along?”

Barbara looked unsure. “I don’t know, it doesn’t seem like something that Diana would be too interested in…”

Hannah, however, looked really interested. “Oh, come on, you know how she keeps saying she doesn’t get scared at anything. Horror movies don’t even phase her. I wanna see how she reacts to something like this!”

Barbara sighed heavily. “Fine, if we must…”

“Awesome!” Hannah crowed with a victorious arm pump before she turned to Amanda with a wide grin. “We’ll be there! Send me the details in a text, and I’ll let you know when we’ll be coming.”

Oh, the lead up was too perfect to ignore. “With the items in your cart, that won’t be the only coming you’ll be doing,” she said with a racy grin, and Barbara and the others stared at her for a moment, not understanding…and then Barbara blinked, a look of outrage on her face.

“_YOU!_”

Amanda was still cackling after she made the short sprint to the station wagon, insults and threats hurled at her back. And even as her friends questioned her on how she knew one of the Luna Nova girls, her mind was racing, half formed plans whirling about.

Hannah was going to be coming to the haunted maze. They would have to go all out this year!


	3. Of Texts and Cucumbers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amanda is staying over at Akko's the day after they bumped into the Luna Nova girls at the store when Hannah texts her. Hijinks ensue.

The day after Amanda and her friends bumped into Hannah and the other Luna Nova students in the store found her at Akko’s house. At this point, she was basically a second daughter to the Kagaris, the same as she was for Constanze’s and Jasminka’s families. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that she spent more time living with her friends than at her family’s house, and given what little they knew about her home life, they didn’t complain, especially since she went out of her way to help with chores and be respectful of those taking care of her. She had fun being a rebel at school because school really didn’t matter and it was fun seeing just how much she could annoy her teachers. But for those who selflessly opened their doors for her? She wouldn’t dare dishonor their hospitality by being a brat, not when they were saving her from…

“Hey, you can use the bathroom first,” Akko said, breaking Amanda out of her dark thoughts, and Amanda looked up from her cellphone. It was well after dinner, and they were winding down for the night, Amanda’s sleeping bag already laid out on the small inflatable mattress.

Yawning, Amanda tossed her cell phone on top of her sleeping bag before making her way past (and sometimes over) the clutter of Akko’s room to the attached half bath. At this point she already had her own set of toiletries that had a permanent spot in her friend’s cupboard, and soon she was brushing her teeth when a soft chime and buzz came from the bedroom.

“Hey, you just got a text,” Akko lazily called, and Amanda frowned thoughtfully. It was almost ten at night, who was texting her this late?

“Who ih it?” she managed to mumble past a mouthful of toothpaste foam, and she heard Akko shifting on her bed.

“Uhh, looks like it’s from that girl from the supermarket yesterday, Hannah? You want me to open it?”

Huh. Well, not the latest she had received a message from the Luna Nova girl.   
“Yuh,” she managed to say before resuming brushing her teeth, and there was a moment of silence as Akko put in the code for her phone. They both knew each other’s codes, and had precious little they hid from one another, and Hannah had never sent anything that Amanda would consider hiding, anyway, so-

“Oh my God!” Akko exclaimed, voice shocked.

-aaaand of course this message was the one that apparently changed that. Of course it was! Not even taking the time to spit out the foam in her mouth, Amanda peered into the bedroom to see Akko staring at her phone with wide eyes. “Wuh?!”

Akko cleared her throat before looking up at her with mischeviously sparkling eyes. Oh, that wasn’t a good sign! “‘Bee-tee-double-yoo, that cucumber you put in the cart came in _really_ handy tonight,’” she read off, and Amanda promptly sucked in a startled breath, only to start choking on her toothpaste foam.

Finally, after a few moments of nearly _dying_ while Akko merely laughed at her (some friend she was!), Amanda managed to spit out the rest of the foam and rinse out her mouth and run into the room, snatching her phone from Akko…just as it chimed again, and they both froze, Akko grinning wickedly and Amanda blushing heavily.

“Wow, Amanda, I didn’t know you were in _that_ sort of a relationship with her,” Akko teased, and Amanda scowled.

“Sh-shut up, I’m not!” she snapped as she summoned the courage to read the newest message. 

‘_ur frnd picked a good one ’_ the message read, and Amanda stared at the phone, uncertain how to process it. Sure, they had picked stuff that could be used for _that_, but it had just been a prank, she didn’t expect anyone to actually-! The phone chimed again. 

‘_it was just the right length and prfctly firm’_

And again.

_‘it satisfied ALL my cravings’_

By now, Amanda was beet red, and Akko was barely able to keep from laughing out loud. “Oh my God, you should see your face!” she crowed, and Amanda was too flustered by the messages to come up with a retort. This…this was not what she’d expect in a million years. One only had to spend about five minutes in the presence of Hannah to know that she was sassy and confident as hell, but this was so much more than that!

Numbly, she quickly typed out her response. ‘_Uhhhh…_’before hitting send.

The reply didn’t take long to come in. ‘_oh, don’t believe me? Here, i’ll send u a pic…_’

Amanda’s reaction was immediate. “Nope!” she yelped as she fairly threw her phone away from her, never mind that getting a pic like _that_…well, the thought of seeing Hannah doing something dirty with a cucumber did funny things to her stomach, and she was old enough and experienced enough to know what those butterflies meant, but she _refused_ to give it any more thought because that was dangerous!

Akko shot her a confused glance before she picked up Amanda’s phone and read the messages, her eyebrows rising almost all the way to her hairline as she began to blush…just as the phone chimed again. Akko stared at the phone for a moment, mouth agape, and Amanda was scared to ask exactly what Hannah had sent. Then Akko snorted, her face dropping into the blankets on her bed, and she began to _howl_ with laughter, drumming her feet and free hand against the mattress.

“What?!” Amanda asked, confused at the reaction.

“Oh, wow, I _like_ this one!” Akko snorted as she handed Amanda back her phone, and Amanda peered at the screen, only to see Hannah sitting at a dining room table, fully dressed and entirely decent, an absolutely cheeky grin on her face and a serving bowl full of salad on her lap, prominently featuring sliced and quartered cucumber.

“Oh, what the fu-!” Amanda started, only to be cut off by Mrs. Kagari, who just so bloody happened to be walking by at the exact moment, because of _course_ she was!

“Language,” she called in an almost sing-song voice, and Amanda sighed.

“Yes, Mrs. Kagari,” she droned obediently before turning her attention back to her phone. Okay, two could play this game! ‘_I’m glad my cukes sated u_,’ she quickly typed out. ‘_If u need any more, u kno where to get them_’

Once again, Hannah’s response didn’t take long. ‘_bby, i’ll take your cucumbers ANY day!_’

Amanda stared at the response, feeling another blush dusting her cheeks, but at the same time, she smiled. It wasn’t very often that someone got the drop on her like that, and the thought of the challenge was…nice. That said…

“Hey, Akko?” she asked, and her friend tilted her head questioningly. “Remind me to get a nice, big cucumber the day that Hannah goes to the haunted maze.”

Akko snorted at that, and soon the two of them were laughing quietly. Well, at least one thing was certain…a friendship with Hannah certainly wasn’t going to be boring…

…and honestly, Amanda wouldn’t want it any other way!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit shorter than the others, but really gets across just how teasing the two of them can be. I really like how confident Hannah is in the story. I have such plans for her later on!


	4. What an A-Maze-Ing Time!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being a horror genre junky, Hannah can't wait for the days to go by as quickly as possible so that she and her friends can go to the Haunted Maze that Amanda had invited them to outside of the supermarket, the maze that she had been hyping up during her conversations with Hannah. Finally the day arrives, and Hannah, Barbara, Andrew, and Frank all make their way to the State Fairgrounds where Amanda and the award winning maze awaits them. Will the maze live up to the hype? Will it scare their socks off, as Amanda all but guaranteed that it would? Only one way to find out!

What an A-Maze-Ing Time!

The weeks leading up to the Haunted Maze passed with a building sense of curious anticipation, and Hannah was soon more than eager for each day to pass even as they each seemed to drag on longer and longer the closer they got to the third weekend of October, which was first weekend of the month that actually worked for Hannah, Barbara, Diana, Andrew, and Frank. Texts with Amanda had revealed that costumes weren’t required but were very heavily encouraged, and that the maze wasn’t the only Halloween centric event going on at the State Fairgrounds during the weekends throughout the month. Local farms were setting up a ton of booths selling apples, cider, pies, and all sorts of other fall-themed goodies, there were a few Elementary and Middle Schools that were doing some concerts and small plays, and guests were encouraged to participate in costume competitions each weekend, hence why she pretty much demanded that Hannah and her friends come in costume.

But the main event was undoubtedly the Haunted Maze. Amanda’s texts had become more and more focused on the maze itself, though they remained frustratingly cryptic, and she hadn’t revealed any details (despite Hannah’s subtle and then not-so-subtle prying…) beyond boasts that this year was going to knock it out of the park. Online research hadn’t revealed all that much, either, other than the theme for this year was the “Coven of Terror.” So, witch themed, Hannah had to guess. Barbara had been surprisingly excited about that, and had been the one to suggest a group costume to the theme of _The Wizard of Oz._ It hadn’t taken long for the roles to go to each person. Barbara was going to be Dorothy, Hannah was going to be the Cowardly Lion, Frank the Scarecrow, and Andrew would be the Tinman.

Diana had been fairly exasperated with all of it, as this sort of thing wasn’t quite her thing, she protested stiffly, but then finally gave in when Hannah and Barbara both started begging her to join in. She would be Glinda, but absolutely refused to wear a “big, poofy dress,” she had said, tone like iron. That was okay, Barbara could work with that, given that she was really big into the cosplay scene. It would be obvious what the inspiration for their costumes would be, though it would take quite a bit of help from the Luna Nova Drama Department to get all the costumes done in the few weeks that they had. Hannah wasn’t worried, though, she had all the confidence in the world that Barbara would deliver.

But the more she looked into the maze itself, the more curious she got. Amanda hadn’t been lying when she had said that past years had won awards. The online site was quite proud to point out that their maze was touted as the State’s best Haunted Maze event for the past seven years running. Apparently some scouts from film production companies regularly came to check it out and some of the people who had worked previous mazes were now working for production companies that were big names in the horror movie industry, which was pretty impressive! That alone would have convinced her that this was going to be a good time.

Plus there were some other things that she appreciated. There were apparently actually three different mazes, one for kids under sixteen, one that was pretty standard fare, and _THE_ maze, the one that you legitimately had to sign a waiver for, and if you had a heart condition you were quite literally not allowed in the really scary maze. That alone was telling, and Hannah knew which one she definitely wanted to go to! Mainly because she _loved_ horror movies, but also because she did want to see Diana actually freak out for once…the girl was absolutely unflappable and barely reacted to even the scariest movies in Hannah’s collection. “It’s not scary because it’s obviously not real,” she explained once after Hannah had hit her with the big guns. Well, let’s see how she would react when she was _in_ the scary event!

Throughout all of it, she continued to build her relationship with Amanda, finding that she was growing more and more fond of the taller, redheaded girl. She had an incredibly sharp wit and was able to keep up with Hannah’s sense of humor, oftentimes returning quip for quip with expert ability. The, _ahhhh_, cucumber incident was a prime example of this, and for a moment Hannah had actually wondered if she had gone too far that night, but then Amanda had sent the text about her cucumbers sating Hannah, and Hannah hadn’t been able to help the delighted laugh from escaping as she had laid there in her bed. She knew full well that she sometimes had the tendency to take things a _little_ too far, with Diana often saying that she talked too much like a boy with an annoyed roll of her eyes. But it certainly seemed like Amanda didn’t mind too much, so that was a solid win! It just really sucked that they were in separate towns. Sure Blytonbury and Glastonbury weren’t _too_ far apart, but an hour round trip was still an hour round trip, and Amanda had been super busy with prep for the maze and Hannah was always busy with her wrestling and honors classes so there never seemed to be any time. So she had resigned herself to making do with texting and the very rare Facetime session, which she had learned to treasure.

But despite the fact that she really enjoyed actually having the chance to talk face-to-face with Amanda, but there was something about the sessions that made Hannah ever so slightly uneasy. She didn’t want to pry, but Amanda _never_ Facetimed from her home, it was always done at the home of one of her friends. It just struck Hannah as unusual. Sure, Amanda seemed sociable enough and had a good group of friends with her in the supermarket, but to never actually be at her house when they had video chats? That _was_ weird, right? But she hadn’t yet mustered up the nerve to ask about it, though she wasn’t quite certain what was making her so hesitant to ask. Maybe because it would be awkward or even rude to ask about it over the phone? Or maybe it was because she had only been friends with Amanda for only a few months and she might ruin things if she tried sticking her nose into Amanda’s business…whatever the reason was, she did listen to her gut and never asked, and resolutely put her concerns out of her mind, instead focusing on how awesome it was going to be to see Amanda in person again!

Finally the day arrived, and just as she expected, Barbara delivered. She might have been a little…okay, a _lot_ biased, but she thought her costume was the coolest of the lot. The clothes were rugged, almost befitting an explorer like Indiana Jones: khaki cargo pants that hugged her hips in _just_ the right way and a button up light tan shirt that had a bomber style leather jacket on over it with the fleece collar enhanced with tawny faux fur to simulate a mane. She provided the footwear, a rugged pair of brown leather boots she wore when hiking, and some glue-on nails filed down to points, high grade fake fangs, an ungodly amount of mousse to give her auburn hair a ton of volume to further suggest a lion’s mane and face paint that Barbara applied (and that honestly reminded Hannah of the Rum Tug Tugger from the _Cats_ musical) and she was ready to go. A fresh take on the Cowardly Lion!

Still, she did have to admit that the boys looked pretty cool, especially Andrew, who Barbara had done up to look more like a cyborg than a Tinman, with high density foam armor like armor cosplayers used that sat over a grey and black jumpsuit and black combat boots. Props were allowed, so he had two Nerf axes that he had stuck in loops that sat at his hips on the thick belt that went over the armor. Barbara definitely outdid herself with the face paint for Andrew, just putting a hint of metallic sheen on his skin that concentrated on his cheek bones, jawline, forehead, and neck. A touch of silver hairspray paint to accent his dark hair, and it was really easy to see him as a cyborg.

Frank was a bit more traditional, but a lot more rugged than the original Scarecrow from the movie, using the physique he had earned through hard work on the rugby pitch and in the gym to his advantage. If Hannah wasn’t batting so hard for the other team, then maybe she’d…well, no, that was a lie. She liked girls, but could still frankly appreciate some male yum when the male was really _yum_, and Frank fit that description, though she’d never tell him that. He wasn’t stupid jacked, but solid and well-built and _very_ athletic, and given that he rarely flaunted his body (preferring to wear suits that didn’t show off his physicality) the times that he did just made it all the more appreciable.

He wore a red plaid flannel button up shirt (which she approved of for obvious reasons) that he only buttoned up to his mid chest, with straw stuffed into the shirt. Surprisingly tight blue jeans over work boots and a belt with a buckle that would put most cowboys to shame and a pair of black leather work gloves stuffed into his back pocket helped complete the look, with a few artistically placed rips in the pants and shirt stuffed with more straw to sell the scarecrow aspect of it. Speaking of crows, over the right breast of his shirt were a pair of beautifully embroidered crows that looked almost to be done in a Norse style that worked surprisingly well, and his straw blond hair was mussed up rather than kept in the neatly styled hairdo he usually had it in, the strands peeking out from under the broad brimmed straw hat that was a necessary part of _any_ scarecrow costume. His face paint was a bit less subtle than Andrew’s, with blush heavily applied to his cheeks and lines running from the corners of his lips with carefully applied smaller lines that brought to mind stitches. Where Andrew looked like a cyborg rather than a tinman, Frank definitely looked like a scarecrow…a ruggedly athletic scarecrow who was going to turn heads. The easy-going smile that seemed to be his go to expression and the long piece of straw he had stuck in his mouth also made him seem really friendly, enhancing his charm.

Barbara was actually surprisingly low key with her own costume, apparently preferring a more modern version of the original costume. Her dark hair was braided into two plaits that hung over her shoulders, and she wore a blue plaid button up shirt under a pair of grey, denim overall shorts. Thigh high rainbow socks and a pair of glittery silver converse definitely drew the eye, though Hannah had shot the shoes a confused glance when she first saw them. Barbara had noticed, and sniffed haughtily. “In the book, the slippers were silver, and not ruby,” she said, and Hannah had nodded, trying not to smile…Barbara was a purist about some of the strangest things…

A set of headphones resting around her neck, and a small, designer backpack with some apples and a bottle of water, a squirt gun, and a toy, plush Toto arranged so that its head popped out of the backpack completed the look. This was definitely a 21st century Dorothy.

But Diana! If Glinda was a CEO and not a witch, she would look like Diana! She wore a fitted pastel pink blazer and pencil skirt that flaunted her figure, with a pearl white silk blouse that Hannah knew Diana had to have donated to the costume. Sheer stockings covered her legs, and on her feet were a pair of reasonable but fashionable flats. “I wanted her to wear pumps,” Barbara had complained with a pout to Hannah while Diana was catching up with Andrew, “but she refused, saying if she was going to be walking around a lot she was going to be comfortable!” A modest diamond tiara that was leagues more sensible than the massive crown Glinda had in the movie rested on her head. In her ear was a Bluetooth earpiece, and a modest but beautiful necklace graced her neck, drawing attention to her upper chest. At her right hip was a cell phone holder and at her left hip was what looked almost like a narrow baton, and when Hannah had asked what it was, Diana’s expression had turned rather pleased before she grasped the handle and pulled…producing a bubble wand with a star at the tip. With a light laugh, she swished it and filled the air with bubbles. “I couldn’t claim to be Glinda without these,” she had said with an almost shy smile, and Hannah had suddenly been very happy that they had pressured Diana into coming…her friend didn’t have very many opportunities to act like a teen, and honestly needed moments like this to just have fun.

It was in the spirit of continuing that playfulness that had Hannah grinning as they piled into Diana’s SUV. “Ohhhhh, we’re off to see the wizard!” she sang out, and Diana huffed, but still smiled.

“The wonderful Wizard of Oz,” the normally taciturn blonde gamely continued the song, and soon they were all singing numbers from the movie as they started the drive to the State Fairgrounds. And when they ran out of songs, they began quoting the movie, with laughter and friendship aplenty in the SUV as they each tried to outdo each other with funny voices and the like. Even before they got to the maze itself, Hannah could definitely count the night as a win. It wasn’t very often that _all_ of them got together…both Luna Nova and Appleton had insane schedules and were far enough apart that it was really difficult for them all to hang out. And yet…even though hanging out like this was really nice, that wasn’t the focus of the evening, and she just couldn’t _wait_ to actually get to the maze!

Thankfully their antics made the miles fly by, and soon Diana was taking the exit leading to the Fairgrounds, and Hannah peered at the surprisingly high number of vehicles parked in the parking lots. Amanda really hadn’t been lying when she said that this was a popular thing! Despite it being late in the evening, it took a five minute walk from where they parked just to get to the entrance of the fairgrounds, and there was a pretty long line formed, music in the distance.

Frank laughed as he scratched the back of his head. “This is crazy! Didn’t think it would be this busy this late at night, right?”

Andrew merely hummed thoughtfully as he looked around at the crowd. “Just goes to show that there’s a lot of local entertainment if you just bother to look for it.” He glanced at Hannah. “And you said your friend from Glastonbury is helping to run the maze?”

Hannah stepped to the side as a harried looking father being led by a giggling group of younger girls in costumes walked by. “Yeah, she said that they went all out this year, so it should be pretty good.” She, too, was looking around at the crowds around them. A fair number of the people were in street clothes, but most of them were costumed, especially the younger kids. Even amongst the older teenagers and young adults who were wearing costumes, most of them seemed like the sort that you could get at Halloween Stores, though there was a handful of others who had much higher grade costumes. Costumed or not, though, there was an air of festivity that gripped them all, and Hannah couldn’t help but grin in ever mounting excitement as they finally got through the gates, the music growing louder as they followed the flow of people deeper into the expansive fairgrounds.

There were dozens of vendors along the sides of the walkways, hawking their wares, and there was so much that caught the attention of those walking by. Handmade jewelry, artisan soaps, wood carvings, quilted goods, various products from local farms and companies like honey, maple syrup, hot sauces, cheeses, and more. Live bands were scattered around the area, playing many different genres, the musicians obviously passionate about their music as they performed. Artists were also out and about, and Hannah glanced interestedly at a Henna artist as she put a complex, spiraling design on the hand and forearm of a pretty young woman, even while caricatures were being drawn by two arts in the next stall. A sign reading “Livestock, Auction at 9:30pm” pointed down one of the wide walkways, and Hannah was suddenly wishing that they had actually come earlier…there was so much to explore.

Then she was gasping in delighted shock as two performers in stilted costumes looking like a pair of fierce warriors astride large, flightless birds with brilliantly colored plumage walked by, towering over them as the performers manipulated the heads of the…puppets? Costumes? Hannah wasn’t quite certain what they would be called, but they were really cool, giving an otherworldly feel to the festivities around them.

Then she noticed that Diana was glancing at her phone. “Right, so it’s just short of half-nine, the maze closes at eleven, and I imagine the line is rather long. Shall we head that way now?”

Hannah grinned. “Dunno, _Glinda_, but this lion follows Dorothy!”

Diana rolled her eyes as Barbara laughed. “We might as well,” she grinned. “Don’t want to miss the main attraction!”

It didn’t take long for the group to make their way over to where the mazes were located, though they were delayed slightly by several people wanting to take pictures of their costumes, and one young man could barely contain his excitement when he recognized Barbara from her YouTube channel. Hannah knew that her best friend was really big into the cosplay scene, but given the guy’s reaction, you’d have thought she was royalty. Barbara ate it up, of course, and they lost nearly five minutes just with him as he and Barbara took more than a dozen pictures together.

And then they had to walk past the food vendors. Oh, the food vendors! Some of it was the standard fair fare like funnel cakes and fried everything (no, seriously…pickles, onions, twinkies, ice cream, candy bars, Oreos…the list went on, and on, and _on_, and Hannah could practically _feel_ her veins coagulating just walking past the vendors, and it was a shame that coach would _kill_ her if she broke her diet in such an egregious manner…) but there was also food selections from around the world. Indian and Thai, Moroccan and Ethiopian, a whole slew of Central and South American food, some stuff from Europe like an authentic German pretzel truck. Her stomach rumbled as smell after delightful smell wafted through the air, and if they only had just a bit more time! But Diana was right, they soon found out as they finally exited the food area with mouths watering and stomachs growling. The crowd grew more and more dense the closer they drew to the maze area, and if that was any indication, they’d be standing in line for a while!

But then, to their surprise, that didn’t turn out to be the case. They passed under a tastefully decorated arch proclaiming “Haunted Mazes!” in broad, orange letters to find that while the area was packed, there didn’t seem to be any real line. Instead, there seemed to be a lot of carnival type games that had been reskinned for Halloween, an area devoted to costume competitions, and a few spots selling baked goods, courtesy of the ‘incomparable Jasminka Antonenko’ if the signs were any indication. A half dozen high school students flitted about in witch and warlock costumes while teachers looked on, and one of them spotted the five of them and briskly approached them, a welcoming smile on her face, her teal eyes partially obscured by a large pair of glasses, and a broad brimmed witch’s hat sitting on top of her short orange hair.

Hannah blinked as she realized that she recognized the other girl, even in the tasteful witch costume. That’s right, she had been at the supermarket that one time they all pranked Hannah’s friends. She grinned widely. “Hey, you’re Amanda’s friend, right?” she said, and the girl paused, head cocked slightly to the side as she looked Hannah up and down before recognition dawned in her eyes.

“You’re Hannah, right? Wow, that costume is really cool! Did you do it yourself? It’s really, really good!”

“Nah, she did all the costume stuff!” Hannah boasted for her friend as she jabbed her thumb at Barbara, who looked as pleased as punch.

For her part, the girl glanced at Barbara before returning her attention to Hannah, and then suddenly froze, eyes widening comically behind the lenses of her glasses as her attention _snapped_ back to Barbara. “Oh my God, you’re BP Cosplays!”

Barbara gave a short, theatrical bow. “The one and only! So glad to meet a fan.” Then she quirked a brow as she gave the girl’s costume a much more thorough and intense scrutinizing. “And _you’re_ the teenage form of the witch Malin Matsdotter from Volume 273 of _Nightfall_!”

The girl’s eyes fairly _sparkled_ at that. “You’re a _Nightfall_ fan?!” she gasped.

Barbara scoffed. “Anyone with any modicum of taste is a fan,” she said, and then smirked. “Present non-believers excluded, of course,” and the rest of them either groaned or sighed wearily. Just their luck to run into another _Nightfall_ fanatic.

The girl nodded sagely, face solemn. “Not everyone can be perfect.”

“Okay!” Hannah cut in, more out of a sense of self-preservation than out of any real ire…if the two of them really got into a discussion about the series, they’d be standing there all night! “We’re here for the maze. As in, _the_ maze. None of that sissy little kid or diluted stuff. We’re here for the real deal.”

“Oh. Right! Sorry, I got distracted by your costumes,” she apologized with a sheepish grin. “I’m Lotte Jansson, and I’m one of the greeters.” She took a moment to pull a roll of tickets from a large pouch hanging off her hip. “You’re all in one group, right? It’s ten dollars per person. Here, take this,” she said as she handed Diana a ticket as they all fished the money out of their wallets and purses. “Turn this in to the stand outside of the maze you want to go through.” She pointed to the three different entrances, and Hannah noticed the digital displays outside of each one that showed numbers in bright red numerals. “When the number a few before yours is shown, I’d recommend queueing up. We’re keeping a ten minute interval between each group, and will only call a number out a few times before moving on to the next group if no one shows up.” Then she grinned. “Have fun!”

It only took a moment to get over to the maze entrance, and Hannah glanced at the temporary chain-link fence that had been set up behind it, like could be found at construction sites. A dark fabric was secured to the fence, completely obscuring the view of what lay beyond it, save for the stark branches of trees clawing up towards the sky and a building that loomed darkly over all of it. The trees alone were confusing, as there wasn’t a forest that she knew of in the middle of the fairgrounds.

They turned in their number, and the adult running the booth gave them a long, discerning look before he handed each of them forms that they had to fill out before they were allowed to go through the maze. “Don’t need them for the other mazes,” he said gruffly. “But you want to experience the Coven of Terror, you need to fill those out. You’re all older than sixteen, right?”

Diana reached for her purse, and Hannah rolled her eyes but followed suit, and they all produced their learner permits, proving that yes, they were all over the age of sixteen. Satisfied, the man tersely nodded, and they got to work.

The forms turned out to be the famous waivers, stating that they understood that the actors couldn’t touch them, and if they touched the actors, they could face criminal charges depending on the severity of the contact. They were not to leave the designated path. They were not to damage any of the props or the environment. Pretty standard stuff. What had Hannah raising her eyebrows was the section stating that they would not pursue any legal action against the school or any of the maze staff for damage done to clothes due to ‘the involuntary or voluntary evacuation of the bladder or bowels caused by any non-contact action made by any of the staff’ and that the waiver would be considered an admission that the signee did not have any known heart condition prior to entering the maze. Any individuals with known heart conditions or sensitivity to strobe lights or loud noises were forbidden from going in to the most intense maze for their own protection. If any such individual still chose to enter said maze, the maze staff and the school could not be held liable for any emergency medical situation that came as a result from heart failure, a myocardial infarction (in layman’s terms, a heart attack), or any other emergency cardiovascular situations.

With almost perfect timing, a bloodcurdling scream sounded from somewhere beyond the fencing, and Hannah’s eyebrows shot up even as she grinned. Now this is what she was talking about!

Unfortunately it did turn out that they’d have to wait a while, as their number was a good ways behind the number currently displayed. They’d likely be going in around a quarter past ten. Luckily it was easy to keep occupied in the waiting area, and they entered into the costume contest. Judges took notes on their costumes and they had some pictures taken. It was Barbara who gave them her number, and she would be contacted Sunday evening if they won any prizes for this weekend’s contest. Then it was just a matter of time, and soon their number was being displayed, and with heart beginning to pound in anticipation, Hannah followed after the others as they made their way to the entrance. It was time to see if this maze was as scary as it was made out to be!

For his part, the man at the entrance gave them a rather foreboding smile as he handed each of them a cheap, individually packaged whistle. “If any of you feel like it is too scary, blow on the whistle. A staff member will come to escort you out of the maze. Have fun!” he fairly crowed as he opened the gate for them, and the five of them entered.

Even just into the maze, they pulled up short in surprise. The path was clearly marked off by ropes, and there was a veritable forest made of saplings and shrubs, leaves carpeting the ground underneath them, and Hannah had to admire the creativity behind it all, especially the fact that there were trees painted on the inside of the fence, further enhancing the illusion that they weren’t in the middle of the State Fairgrounds and were instead in the middle of a spooky forest. The path was winding, and a tall hedge was to their right, and it took Hannah a moment to realize that it was there simply to obstruct their view of the path as it curved sharply to the right up ahead. She would bet anything that the path was just a few feet on the other side of the hedge. Smart. They made the absolute most use of the space that they had. Now it just had to be seen if the scares were as good as they were rumored to be.

Unfortunately, her first impression wasn’t too favorable as they followed the winding path through the woods. The scares weren’t _bad_, of course, but seemed pretty standard fare. Just about the most impressive was the masked guy with the chainsaw who charged the rope barrier, prompting them to scream and then laugh once they saw he wouldn’t come further onto the path, though he menaced them with the revving chainsaw. A classic scare in the haunted maze scene, but nothing special.

Then they finally reached a larger clearing just in front of the entrance to the dark, looming building that could be seen from the entrance to the attraction, and they looked around, a tad confused. The trees were slightly larger here, and there were multiple industrial lights strung up in them, flooding the area with bright white light, shadows from the trees reaching across the ground like skeletal hands.

“Nice ambiance,” Hannah had to admit as they stepped further into the clearing, almost on high alert now. There had to be a scare here, but where would it come from? Maybe the path behind them? Return of the chainsaw guy?

Then it started, a low, gravelly laugh that echoed around them before building to a full on cackle, and they all drew closer to one another, goosebumps rising on Hannah’s arms. Alright, not bad, not bad at all.

Then Frank fairly yelped out in shock as Andrew choked back a curse, his arm rising, and Hannah looked up to where he was pointing, just in time to see a green skinned witch with piercing red eyes flying down out of the pitch black night at them on a broom, black dress flapping in the night air, a feral grin stretching her mouth wide. “How about a little fire, scarecrow?!” she howled with vicious glee as she raised a hand, and a jet of fire shot into the air above their heads, and they all ducked reflexively as the witch whooshed over them.

Then Hannah was raising clenched fists in a defensive stance even as she was peripherally aware of Barbara ducking behind Diana, who had drawn her wand and squared up against the threat, and Frank and Andrew were standing side by side, eyes wide with surprise. Then the witch was pulling up higher into the air, suspended in one spot as she glared down at them, and with how the bright lights were shining in her eyes, Hannah couldn’t see the wires that _had_ to be holding the witch up in the air. There had to be wires, right?

“Oh, how brave of you to bring more sacrificial lambs to the slaughter, _Glinda_,” the witch called out, voice dripping with condescension. “Let’s see if they do any better than the last group, shall we? For that matter…” she paused, and then raised an imperious hand. “Let’s see how you fare against my _little friends_.”

Movement caught Hannah’s eyes at her words, and her gaze dropped back down to the woods surrounding the clearing as easily a dozen dark, horribly twisted small forms emerged, glowing red eyes glaring out from under ragged, clumped hair and fur, and they all started laughing like hyenas as they reached the rope barrier, reaching out clawed hands to touch it…and then the first crossed under it, and the witch started cackling again. “Get them, _my pretties_! Beat them, kill them, skin them! _Fetch me their pretty little eyes_!”

Hannah wasn’t even aware of making the decision to move, but suddenly she was at the door to the building, wrenching it open, and holding it as the other four fled inside, the wretched little monsters close on their heels, still laughing that haunting, echoing laugh, and Hannah only just managed to slip inside and slam the door shut before the first of them reached her. To her relief, there was a bar that she was able to drop over the door, just as dozens of hands began to pound at it.

“Okay,” she gasped as she tried to catch her breath. “Okay, that was impressive!”

“Where are we?” Andrew asked, his normally composed voice trembling slightly. For that matter, even Diana looked a bit shocked, which was huge.

Hannah looked around the small, dark chamber they were in, a doorway yawning black against one wall, and she swallowed nervously, even as the little monsters continued to pound at the door behind them. “Guess this is the beginning of the actual maze, and we only have one way to go.”

“What’s that one trick?” Barbara asked, still slightly breathless. “You can get out of a maze if you only turn left?”

“I…think? That sounds familiar. So, uh…shall we get going?” Frank asked as he stared at the gaping black doorway.

Fishing out her phone and turning on its flashlight, Hannah briskly strode forward. “No time like the present!” she said with considerably more bravado than she currently felt. She didn’t want to admit it, but the clearing had unsettled her more than she had expected it to. She had never experienced a witch flying through the air and shooting literal fire, and whatever the crap those little monsters were, they were creepy as hell! All that before they even got to the maze itself…

The corridor was narrow and cramped, the ceiling pressing down uncomfortably close to their heads, and even Hannah had to fight the urge to duck reflexively, and she was the shortest amongst them. It didn’t take long to reach a T intersection, and she shined the flashlight both ways, cursing that she didn’t have a serious flashlight like a Mag-Lite. With the dark walls, she was basically only illuminating enough to keep from tripping over her own feet. “You said turn left, right?”

“Yeah.”

They continued, and the ceiling suddenly rapidly rose, and then disappeared completely, and Hannah paused as she shined the light up into that endless blackness, the beam weak enough that it was swallowed up completely. That…she didn’t like that. With a ceiling, you knew what was above you, with this…

With a shiver, she brought the flashlight down and began to bring her head down as well before she froze. Dozens of pairs of faintly glowing red eyes peered down at her from that darkness, and again she brought the flashlight up, only for the eyes to disappear. Dropping the flashlight back down had them come back. “Uh, guys?” she hesitantly said. “There’s like…a bunch of things watching us up there.”

They were all looking up now, and Frank laughed nervously. “Must be like…a light sensor or something, so if you flash a light up there, they turn off. Just a bunch of dim lights made to look like eyes, that’s all.”

Almost on cue, one of the sets of eyes seemed to blink, the glowing red pricks of light turning away, winking out…and after a breathless moment, they reappeared in a different spot, slightly closer this time. A creepy chuckle floated down from the all-encompassing blackness.

Hannah heard Barbara swallow heavily behind her. “I wanna get off the ride, mommy,” she whispered, voice hoarse.

“Okay, not going to lie,” Hannah whispered back. “Those are creepy as fuck. But they can’t touch us. The waiver said so. They’re just creepy, they can’t actually hurt us.”

“Wait, can you hear that?”

It had been Andrew to say that, and they all froze, holding their breaths. Andrew had uncannily keen hearing, so if there was something, he’d likely hear it first, but when they all made as little noise as possible…

A distant, rapid deep thudding, so quiet that Hannah had thought it was her heart beat, but now that she heard it, she couldn’t unhear it, an unsettling thumping that sat at the edge of her awareness, raising her anxiety. “I’m starting to see why they win awards…”

A choking, gurgling moan down the path that went to the right from the intersection, and they all jumped even as the startlingly loud noise was joined by the sound of metal screeching against metal. And then a heavy, dragging footstep from just beyond how far they could see, followed by another.

“Okay, we’re leaving!” Hannah yelped, turning in the direction that they had been heading and setting out at a pace that was almost fast enough to be called a jog. Whatever the hell that was didn’t sound good! Even as they moved, though, she glanced up at the red eyes hiding up in that darkness, shivering as they continued to blink and shift around, tracking their movement.

A sharp turn to the right, followed immediately by one to the left, and her phone’s flashlight started to pick up the faint tendrils of fog that reached through the air at them, and they pressed on, the fog growing thicker and that distant thudding growing louder with every step they took, matching the racing paces of their hearts.

A four way intersection, and Hannah hesitated before again taking a left. After a few moments of walking, she spoke the thought that was suddenly bugging her. “A thought occurs,” she whispered, voice hoarse. “What if they know about the only turn left rule and we’re just getting more and more lost?”

A scream of terror in the distance, behind them and to the right, and they whirled, just in time to see a tall, hulking figure crossing across their path at the four way intersection, heading straight where they had turned left.

Diana hissed something at that, eyes wide and nose flared with fear, her hands clenched in tight fists at her side. She took a moment to visibly compose herself before she spoke. “I am finding this to be an excitable experience,” she finally said, and if Hannah wasn’t so scared herself, she would have laughed. That was Diana speak for ‘holy fuck am I terrified!’

Andrew clasped Diana’s shoulder. “Same here. Only one way to get it over with, though.”

Diana squared her jaw. “Right.”

Once again, they continued onwards, the ceiling coming back, and soon the turns were coming quickly. It wasn’t long until Hannah felt completely lost, unable to say for certain where she was or how to get back the way that they came, even though they were still sticking to the only turn left rule.

What amazed Hannah, though, was that there weren’t any jump scares. No costumed actors leaping out at them or anything like that, and yet she was still scared almost out of her wits. The ambience alone was terrifying. She turned yet another corner, wincing in the face of a bright strobe light that lay some thirty feet ahead of them, the white flashes getting caught and illuminated by the fog that lay thick in the air. Then she froze so quickly that Barbara ran straight into her back. A figure stepped into view in the light, and then stepped back out of view.

“Nope! We’re turning around!”

There was no argument, and they were soon backtracking, and Hannah was absolutely certain that she took two right turns where they had just taken two left turns, but she once again drew up short, sweat beading on her forehead, her heart matching the rapid beat of the thudding that was even louder now, pressing on her thoughts. “Hannah?” Barbara asked, and Hannah nervously bit her lip, fake teeth pricking at the flesh as she glanced back, almost helplessly. It was a dead end.

“I know I took the right turns,” she almost whimpered. “This shouldn’t _be_ a dead end!”

“Okay, it’s okay. We’re turned around, you must have simply made a wrong turn. It’s okay,” Diana said soothingly, and they turned around once again. But then, the way back had changed as well, and they stared at a wall where they all knew there had been a path…the path that led to the area with the strobe light.

“This is not okay,” Frank said with a nervous laugh as he ran a hand through his messy hair.

“We just have to keep going. We’ll get out of here. We have to!” Hannah snapped, voice brittle. She set out again, the others following her almost reckless pace, and at the first turn she encountered, she turned right, not liking that it seemed like she was walking directly towards whatever that deep, rapid thumping was, but turning left was obviously not working!

But then, to her surprise (and a fair amount of suspicion), the paths grew less winding and more open, and soon they were proceeding at a good clip, the thudding now behind them and growing quieter. Even though there was no ceiling here, the eyes from before were no longer watching them, which was a relief. Then they took a right at an L intersection to see a long, brightly lit straight path with another L intersection leading to the right at the end of it. The lights illuminating the corridor were strung at the top of the wall, perhaps eight feet above the ground, and Hannah squinted as she looked up at them. They were so blinding that it was impossible to see anything past them. That was reassuring…

They were halfway towards the turn ahead of them when the young man came darting around the corner, face terrified and clothes disheveled, one of his sneakers untied. He sobbed upon seeing them, and started limping towards them. “Please, help me, it got everyone-!”

But before he could finish the sentence, a long, heavily muscled arm covered with dark, coarse fur dropped out of the darkness above the young man, grabbed him, and yanked him up, his terrified scream lasting just a moment after he disappeared up into that pitch blackness before it was abruptly cut off with loud cracking and tearing noises.

It had happened almost too fast to process, and Hannah stared at where the boy had just been standing, paralyzed with fear as her heart pounded in her chest. What just-?

Then, something fell from the darkness, and it took her a moment to process that it was the remains of a lower leg and foot, untied sneaker still on it, the torn sock red with fresh blood. “Holy fuck,” Andrew breathed, voice horrified.

Then the rhythmic banging of heavy footsteps over their heads, starting from where the guy just was, crossing over above them, causing them to duck down for fear that it would attack them before it continued down the way that they had just come from.

Then, _it_ jumped down.

Easily seven feet tall, covered with fur as black as pitch, its proportions monstrous, and it turned its great horned head towards them, baring rows of pointed teeth and flexing hands tipped with cruelly hooking claws. A thunderous growl echoed around them, and it took one step towards them…then another.

They were sprinting, feet clattering against the floor as they fled from that monstrosity, and they just barely managed to keep their footing as they skidded around the corner that the now dead boy had come from. A heavy door, just in front of them, and they barreled into it, fear making their hands clumsy until Barbara finally wrapped her fingers around the handle and pulled it open, and they all poured inside the room as another heavy growl sounded behind them. They slammed the door shut and stood for a moment, trying to catch their breaths.

That was when they actually took stock of their surroundings, and Hannah licked her lips nervously, glancing around in confusion. And why shouldn’t she be confused? After all, after being chased by a monster, one did not expect to be greeted by a kitchen that would put any doting grandmother to shame, the smell of delicious food and desserts heavy on the air. Still gasping as her heart continued to pound in her chest, Hannah took a tentative step further into the expansive room that just didn’t jive with everything else they had seen so far. It was throwing her off more than she’d like to admit.

“Oh, visitors!”

The voice was cheery, startlingly close, and they all flinched as they whirled towards it to find a cheery old woman wiping her hands on a towel tucked into her apron, the dress she wore under it distinctly Eastern European in style.

Against her will, Hannah’s mouth began to water at the absolutely delicious smells, and she glanced at the cakes, the cookies, the pies, and the tarts that seemed to take up every available surface. Then she noticed that it looked like some of the tables and counters weren’t made of wood, but of gingerbread, with icing and candies stuck to it. The details were so subtle that she just hadn’t noticed them at first, but now…

“I’m so glad to be getting so many visitors, it gets so lonely. Why, I only just had some guests for supper!”

…some of those candies were missing, and some of the icing looked like it had had small fingers drag through it for a taste, and with a shudder of horror, Hannah started to realize exactly where they were, exactly who the old woman was. It was at that point that she noticed the children’s shoes…so many pairs of little shoes and sneakers and boots, all neatly lined up at the door, but not a child in sight.

“A shame, though, you’re all so _skinny_. You need some plumping up!” the old woman said, just as the door pounded behind them, and they all leapt about a foot in the air. The old woman frowned, then sighed. “Oh, too late. My son is home…I guess you’ll just have to do as is.” Then she grinned, revealing sharply pointed teeth as she started to slowly walk around the counter she had been behind, a heavy cleaver in one hand. The old woman said something in what sounded like Russian in a hollow voice, before she cocked her head to the side, even as they were nervously edging away from her. “Why are you leaving? If you don’t move, I promise it won’t hurt.” With that said, she lifted the cleaver, even as the door they had just come in through started to open slowly, clawed fingers wrapping around the edge of it.

“There’s another door!” Barbara cried out, and once again they were running, Hannah was gasping with fear now, her heart slamming against the cage of her chest as she followed after Barbara and Diana as Frank and Andrew brought up the rear, so close to her that their shoulders jostled against her back. Diana tore the door open, and they poured through it, slamming it shut behind them, and Hannah fumbled with the lock before Barbara’s scream had her whirling around, only to recoil in horror. The room was a vision straight out of a nightmare, slab tables caked with blood and offal and body parts. There were also corpses suspended from the ceiling by cruel hooked chains, and cages with desiccated bodies of children strewn about.

“We need to get out of here,” Hannah hissed as she jogged forward, careful not to look too closely at what lay on the tables or at the bodies in the cages. She knew this all had to be fake, but the line between what was real and what wasn’t had been blurred far more than she cared to admit. For that matter, how long had they even been in here?! High time to get out!

There was only one other door in the room besides the one that they came in through, and Hannah was not so keen to give the old witch and her monstrous son the time to get through the door while they were still around. Now emboldened with determination, she led the way once more, opening up the door and heading into the corridor beyond. They moved at a fairly rapid clip, then, eager to put the horrors of the rooms that had to have been based off of the Gingerbread House from the Hansel and Gretel story. It didn’t take long for them to realize that moving quickly had been the right decision…it seemed only a few moments had passed when there was a distant, rattling bang followed by the sound of screeching metal from behind them, and then steady…echoing…footsteps that grew louder and louder with each one. There was something chasing them, and Hannah didn’t need many guesses to figure out exactly what that thing was!

But even with their haste and desire to move faster, they didn’t fail to notice the changes to the corridors as they continued onwards…more and more scientific looking panels started appearing on the walls, with lights dimly flickering across their screens, and computers and monitors were tucked into nooks and crannies, with magic and alchemical summoning circles on the walls and the floors, as well as complex, almost alien looking designs that Hannah recognized as Mandelbrot Sets. Wasn’t there a book out there that suggested that the math behind fractals and Mandelbrot Sets could actually open doorways to other dimensions and let unknown horrors slip through? Either way, the ambience was getting decidedly creepier with each foot they traveled.

They turned another corner, and froze once more. Huge, towering tubes of glass stood in a long row before them, each of them with a body in them, suspended in a liquid that glowed a light green that illuminated the area and that slightly distorted the view of the bodies. The bodies all varied, some with gasmasks and lab wear on, others in scrubs, and the two bodies that looked fairly mummified only had strips of cloth covering their chests and groins. “Yeah, because that’s not freaking creepy!” Frank snorted before he headed to the right, following the path around the corner. “There’s a room back here, filled with more stuff. Come on.”

Hannah turned to follow, and was walking when Barbara yelped in surprise. “Uh, g-guys? This body just moved!” she said, pointing at the cylinder furthest to the left with a trembling finger, and Hannah darted back, staring at the gas mask clad body in the tube, but it was completely still now.

“Are you sure? Maybe it was a distortion caused by the fluid in the tank?”

Barbara bit her lip, fingers playing with the bottoms of her overall shorts. “Maybe? I could have sworn that the eyes just lifted to look at me!”

Hannah squinted her eyes as she peered closer. It was hard to see not only because of the distortion from the cylinder and the tank, but also because the eyes were further obscured by the lenses of the mask, but it did look like they were staring straight at Hannah and Barbara. “Mmm. The eyes moving or not moving doesn’t change the fact that we need to keep going. Come on.” Barbara nodded, expression not quite convinced, but they rejoined the boys, and made their way around the corner to find another row of cylinders on the other side of the wall. The rest of the small room was crammed full of more computers and other scientific instruments that hummed quietly in the dimly lit room. There were also dozens of trays of mushrooms and fungi specimens, a musty smell filling the air.

They were about halfway through the room when the sound of bubbles moving through a thick liquid caught their attention, and they turned to look at the last cylinder in the row, the one closest to the wall, just in time to see the bubbles reach the top of the liquid, bursting into the air. Then the young woman in the tank opened her closed eyes, looking around in apparent confusion before spotting them. Her eyes then grew desperate, and she brought up a fist that moved sluggishly through whatever the liquid in the tank was before bringing it thudding against the glass of the tank.

“I think she needs our help!” Andrew called out as he headed towards the tank, the rest of them following him. “Do you see anything we can break her out with?”

But then the girl’s eyes grew wider, expression growing terrified as she brought her fist against the glass of the cylinder again and again before she suddenly screamed, bubbles exploding from her mouth, joining the large bubbles that erupted from the bottom of the tube, partially obscuring her form from view…but it wasn’t enough to completely hide exactly _why_ she was screaming, screaming as her skin melted away, revealing the red of muscles and white of ligaments before all meat melted away, just a skeleton remaining of the young woman before that, too, disappeared as the last of the bubbles reached the top of the tank. It had happened so quickly that all they could do was just stare in shock at the now empty tank.

Then a flicker of movement caught Hannah’s attention, and she turned before jumping back in fright. “Holy _fuck_!”

A figure was standing there, face completely obscured by a gas mask, long, lanky mauve hair hanging from its crown, red eyes glaring balefully at them from behind the thick lenses of the mask, and a dirty white lab coat hung from its shoulders. “Sino ka?” The voice was muffled but unmistakably furious, and one hand raised, brandishing a knife. “Saan ka nanggaling?” A menacing step forward. “Mamatay!”

The knife swished through the air, and they were once again running, memories of the girl dissolving in the tube as well as everything else they had seen prompting them to run fast. All caution was thrown to the wind, and they continued to run, and run, and run, wanting to get out of this place as soon as possible. They were only peripherally aware of the scenery changing again, going from a laboratory feel to more traditional witching, ravens watching them from atop the walls, cawing angrily as they ran through, frogs and snakes and rats in glass cases set in the walls, mist once again lying heavily on the floor, and they could hear music ahead of them, haunting and mournful. Then they burst in to one final chamber, a large black cauldron with arcane symbols carved into it was set on a raised platform that spewed thick vapors onto the ground, swirling around their feet, and Hannah glanced at the figure standing behind the cauldron, lit by red lights set in the floor, face hidden by a broad brimmed witch’s hat. Then the witch’s hands grasped a long stirring stick and began to drive it rhythmically against the floor of the platform, the notes loud and jarring as she began to cackle loudly.

“So you’ve made it through the maze and gotten past my sisters of the Coven of Terror,” she crowed, lifting her head, and Hannah’s heart nearly stopped beating, but unlike all the other times that night, it was for an entirely different reason.

Amanda. Amanda was the last witch, and Hannah couldn’t tell if she was supposed to be scary or what, but she didn’t care.

Because ho-ly _shit_!

Amanda was talking now, but Hannah wasn’t paying attention to the words, she was much more preoccupied with how the other girl _looked_. Wild and free and powerful, green eyes glittering with mischief under the brim of the hat as she put her all into her theatrical monologue, gesturing with the stirring stick and with fingers tipped with pointed nails, and even in the spooky lighting, it was easy to see that she had fangs that winked in the red light as she spoke. Her black dress clung to her body and had ivy-like designs running over the dark fabric, and a corset hugged her torso tightly, enhancing her bust. A belt with potion bottles, a dagger, and the skull of a bird of prey hanging off of it rested on her shapely hips, and Hannah swallowed past a dry mouth as a jolt of heat ran through her. She knew that she liked a lot of things about Amanda…her wit, her humor, her guts, but this was something sharper, more focused. Perhaps it was because of the fear and terror that they had been through that made the feelings whirling fiercely through her all the stronger, but…yeah. Amanda was just _wow_ right now, and it wasn’t just wasn’t fair.

Then Amanda stopped speaking, tilting her head as she stared directly at Hannah before she smirked. Then she was making her way around the still bubbling cauldron, hips swaying alluringly, potion bottles clacking against the skull on her belt, and then she was standing right in front of Hannah, still smirking. “Well hello, little kitten,” she fairly purred as she just barely dragged the tips of her fingernails against Hannah’s cheek, skin prickling at the sensation, and Hannah drew in a sharp breath as her gut clenched. “Cowardly lions that fail to stay with their pride might just get ensnared in a witch’s spell.” Hannah blinked, slightly confused at the words, and Amanda laughed at her expression before tilting her head towards Hannah’s left. “Exit’s that way.”

Hannah blinked again, and looked to the left to see the rest of the gang standing by an open door, looking at her with expressions ranging from Diana’s confused to Frank and Andrew’s bemused to Barbara’s delighted. Oh, she was going to get teased mercilessly for this, wasn’t she? Sending one last glance at Amanda, who was smirking at her again, she nodded before turning and rejoining her friends, glancing over her shoulder one last time as they exited the building into the cool October night air. They had finally done it, finally gotten through the maze, and holy crap had it been everything that it had been advertised as! How many times had the line between reality and fantasy been blurred? She was sorely tempted to go back through again, but part of the waiver was that they agreed to only go through once. A shame! She so very wanted to find out how they did some of the things that they had pulled off.

“So, what should we do now?” she asked, but before anyone could answer, the door burst open behind them, and Amanda came jogging out after them, positively glowing with excitement.

“Hey, guys, wait up! If you leave now, you’re going to miss the best part!”

“The best part?” Barbara asked as she tilted her head.

She grinned, and walked over to another door in the building that was to the left of the one they had exited out of, pulling it open, the music that they had heard earlier growing much louder. “I’d say pay no attention to the man behind the screen, Dorothy, but we are just about to pay _all _the attention to the man behind the screen.” Her grin grew wider, and she fairly bounced on her feet with excitement. “The reason I told you guys to come so late was so you could get the VIP behind-the-scenes tour and then join us for the staff after party! Now come on, there’s no time to waste!”

Hannah glanced around at the others. “Well?”

Diana paused before she smiled slightly and nodded. “I must say, that was very exhilarating and it would be interesting to see exactly how it was done.”

Amanda pumped a victorious fist into the air. “Yes! Now come on! I promise you, the fun has only just begun!”

Spurred by the redhead’s passion, they all followed after her as she went through the door. _Well_, Hannah thought to herself, _time to see what lies beyond the curtain_!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it! I had a lot of fun writing this one, which is a bit unusual...I am not a fan of the horror genre, as a rule. But planning the maze, figuring out who to put where was a lot of fun. Next chapter will reveal the roles of the Red and Green teams in the execution of the maze, as well as how the staff pulled off the magic, as it were!
> 
> This is also the very first time I've posted art along with the chapter itself! It's a bit rough, but I'm very proud of witchy Amanda. I am also currently working on concept art for Amanda and company that I hope to have done in time for Halloween, but that one needs to be done on the computer, given the colors involved...pencils wouldn't do it justice. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed reading!


	5. Behind the Curtain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amanda gives Hannah and Co a VIP behind-the-scenes look at how they managed to pull it all off, and we get to see the viewpoint of all the major actors as they worked their magic. Afterwards, during the party celebrating another well done day of scaring people, an unexpected visitor shows up, and Hannah realizes that not all is as it seems...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A (very late!) birthday gift for Superevilbadguy, I'm sorry this took so long! I had a lot of fun writing this, and did not expect it to be as long as it is...only twenty-five words shorter than the previous chapter! I hope you all enjoy!

Behind the Curtain

The room that the five of them followed Amanda into was brightly lit and had quite a few people hanging out in it, most of them dressed in various layers of costumes as they lounged on beaten up couches and folding chairs, talking in small groups, or helped themselves to the table of refreshments that stood in the corner. It was a bit mentally jarring to see kids their age wearing furred legs held up by suspenders over t-shirts, dark makeup around their eyes and mouths as they laughed and chatted amongst themselves, or a small group of vampires walking in from another door only to remove their fake fangs with sighs of obvious relief. After having their pants nearly scared off, seeing that those who had done the scaring were kids who were pretty much just like them was really weird!

Amanda greeted the other cast members casually as she weaved her way through the light crowd, gesturing for Hannah and the others to follow after. Curiosity now well and truly piqued, they did so as Amanda reach another door that had a handwritten sign reading “QUIET! WORK IN PROGRESS!” taped to it. Amanda didn’t hesitate to open it, revealing a dark room heavily lit by glowing monitors behind it, and as they all filed in, a girl with dark hair popped her head over a wall of screens, glowering briefly at them before she ducked back down.

Amanda drew close enough that Hannah could swear she could feel the other girl’s body heat, and she blushed as the taller read head began to speak in a hushed voice. “That was the break room,” she said. “We work in shifts, so the group that scared you so bad should be coming in soon, I’ll introduce you.” Before she could continue, there was a mechanical pop and a nerf dart bounced off of her shoulder. They all looked over to see the dour girl giving a darker scowl at Amanda before she put down the nerf gun she shot Amanda with before bringing a finger to her lips and then pointed at the headphones over her ears. “Sorry, Cons!” Amanda hissed as Hannah realized that she recognized the almost diminutive girl occupying the computer chair just as she had recognized Lotte: from the store. Amanda leaned in closer, and Hannah was suddenly very grateful for her makeup and the dark room that hid her much deeper blush at Amanda’s closer proximity. Her perfume smelled like cinnamon and autumn leaves, and the figure that she cut in that dress…

“This is the command center,” Amanda breathed just loud enough for all of them to hear. “Cons here can see every inch of the maze…she uses thermal cameras in the maze itself so she can track the various groups.” She jerked her head towards the walls of monitors and brought a finger to her own lips, and Hannah nodded, all of them following behind Amanda as quietly as possible so that they could see what Cons could see.

It was just as Amanda had said. The dozen screens showed all parts of the maze, from the forest, to the maze, to the themed rooms, all the way up to Amanda’s station and the exit itself. They watched as several groups of customers made their way through the maze, and with the thermal cameras, they could see the cast members moving through what had to be pathways that ran parallel to the main paths. Cons moved one mouse as a group entered the main entrance, the creepy little critters visible on Screen 4 as they banged at the door. Cons was quick in her movements, dragging a small box over the head of one of the members of the group in Screen 5 that had a note labeled ‘Ceiling Watchers’ taped underneath it. Cons clicked a drop down menu on that screen and selected ‘_rndm mvt seq 7_’ before turning her attention to yet another monitor. Her finger tapped against the cluttered table for a moment before she spun her chair to a laptop that was lying almost haphazardly on top of the wires spread across the table top. It had Facebook pulled up, with about a hundred messenger tabs open, and Cons selected one before typing out: ‘_move panel A across the path, thn open gate 5a.’_

Hannah looked back at the monitors, and quickly spotted the staff member who has looking at their phone, and they quickly burst into action, doing just what Cons had ordered, moving a section of the wall across the path before they hurried down, passing by what could only be a now thoroughly lost and confused group on the other side of the thin wall of the maze before they reached what looked like a normal wall, only to pull a panel so that it swung open, revealing a new path. Oh. Oh, that was _clever_!

A hand tapped her shoulder, and she turned to see Amanda pointing at the door that they had come in through, and she nodded, following after even as she continued to feel impressed. God, it was so simple, but damn if it didn’t work! She waited until they were all back in the main break room and the door was closed behind them before she spoke. “So that’s how you did it!” she laughed as she ran a hand through her moussed hair.

“That’s how the path kept changing,” Diana cut in, an impressed smirk on her face. “If you know exactly where we are, it’s easy to redirect us as is needed, isn’t it?”

Amanda’s answering grin was wide and extremely pleased, like the cat that got the canary. “Yup! We can keep groups in certain sections of the maze so that you don’t bump in to each other, and if you take too long in one spot, we can send someone to scare you into moving forward.”

Hannah blinked. “Oh, so that’s what the first guy we saw was doing! Right when we had frozen up because of the eyes up in the darkness, right?”

Amanda gave a delighted laugh. “Yeah, I’d say that’s almost a certainty! The trick of really scaring someone is to keep an air of the unknown for as long as possible, right? That’s why that eyes are hidden up in the darkness. You have no idea what’s up there, just that there are eyes staring at you.” She paused to take a deep breath, and Hannah couldn’t help the surge of amusement that rose in her. Amanda was so excited she was talking faster than her breath could keep up! “Snacks, anyone?” Amanda went on to ask, gesturing at the table. “Y’all are my honored guests, so feel free to eat if you want. Most of that is homemade by Jas, and lemme tell you, you have not _lived_ until you’ve had her blueberry donuts.”

Food sounded excellent, they all agreed, and after getting a decent selection of baked goods and cups of drinks (there was no way Hannah could ever turn down hot apple cider, especially not when they had cinnamon sticks to add to the cup!) they made their way to a quieter corner of the room, occupying the couch and some of the chairs in a loose circle, Amanda happily sinking in to the chair next to Hannah. Now if only they could sit next to each other on the couch…

“Right, so,” Amanda continued. “That’s why we made sure that no one actually really sees anything clearly until just before the Gingerbread House bit. Those eyes? Small robots with lighted eyes on fixed tracks. There’s a light sensor up there so if someone flashes a light up there they all turn off. They’re on a simple program to randomly move about and can track a point of interest. You saw that, when Cons selected that guy’s face. Once he or any selected point of interest disappears from view, they all reset.”

Frank shook his head, obviously both incredibly impressed and yet also rather incredulous. “How much _money_ went in to this place?” he asked with an amazed grin. “Thermal cameras, robots on tracks that have a pretty robust program…like, this sounds like something you’d find in a professional theme park, not a maze put together by high schoolers!”

Amanda shrugged, a pleased blush across her cheeks. “We reuse a lot of this equipment over each year. Cons’ parents are big into the movie business and does some work for the government. They really like to see how creative our school can get and loans us a lot of the crazier stuff.”

Andrew gave an amused huff. “Okay, okay. We are all ex-_tremely_ impressed with all of this. Hell, I was about ready to blow that whistle…I probably would have, had I remembered that I still had it! Start from the beginning, please?”

Amanda’s grin grew wider, her fanged teeth flashing in the light as she leaned forward, elbows on her knees as she gestured excitedly with her hands. “Okay, so, from the beginning and by the numbers, this is how it works…”

xxxXXXxxx

_Some thirty minutes earlier:_

One of the chief parts of the plan was to falsely lure the maze goers into a false sense of security, Akko thought to herself as she sat up in the harness suspended by thin but incredibly strong wires, her feet resting on the small platform jutting off one of the fake trees that was actually scaffolding. Shivering slightly, she blew on her hands, warm breath washing over the fingers that were painted green and entirely unprotected by the thick wool fingerless gloves. That was the worst part about being up here, she grumbled to herself as she waited for her cue. It was _cold_ and the effort that went into the makeup and the harness and just getting _up_ here in the first place meant that the ‘Wicked Witch of the West’ role was one that couldn’t be changed out in shifts. Thankfully she could request a small break in the admissions so that she could use the port-a-john that was tucked out of sight or get a hot drink or something, but those breaks had to be kept very short before she had to return to her station.

But then, hers was arguably the most important scare of the entire maze. Almost on cue, the sound of a chainsaw revving loudly echoed up through the trees that had been donated by a local farm specializing in saplings, the live trees interspersed amongst the papier-mâché trees that the drama club and the elementary school worked on making. Mr. Hernandez _loved_ that chainsaw of his, she thought with a grin as she shifted in the harness, fingers wrapping around the neck of the broom that was strapped to the harness itself. Then again, so did she. When she heard it revving, she knew that she was on soon. Plus, everything prior to coming into her clearing lured the guests into a false sense of security. They knew that they couldn’t cross the ropes at the edges of the path. All the cast leading up to her clearing also stayed on their side of the rope, which made the guests think that the scarers _couldn’t_ cross the rope. Heh. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Her crimson eyes peered down at the clearing below her that was lit by the industrial lights that kept her relatively hidden, given how she was above them, her form last in the blackness behind the blinding glare. Good, the kids were in their spot…they had almost flubbed a scare a few groups ago, just before the elementary school children were switched out for a fresh group of their classmates. One of the poor kiddos had promptly decided that they were tired and done with scaring older kids and had stood smack dab in the center of the clearing, crying. Ms. Chadwick had only just managed to get the kid out of there before the incoming group reached the clearing, bless the 3rd Grade teacher.

Dunno what the kid was complaining about, Akko sniffed, fighting the urge to rub at her cold nose with a finger. Didn’t want to smear the paint, after all. Anyways, the kids were lucky, they had a tented area with a space heater and some stuff to keep them entertained between groups. Akko got to sit her frozen butt up in a harness, twenty feet in the air where the wind could get at her. Thank _god_ the black dress she was wearing had like, a bajillion layers and was nice and thick. If she was wearing what Halloween stores tried to pass off as ‘witch’s dresses’ she’d have been a popsicle long ago.

Ah! Movement! Shifting eagerly, Akko mentally readied herself for that first step off the platform, the step that would send her swinging over the heads of the maze goers. Okay, okay, okay, she just got a refill on her propane tank so the fire shooter that jutted out past her right hand should be good, and she held her thumb over the remote that controlled the guide wires of the harness. Maybe she could join the trapeze after she graduated? After all of this, she certainly _felt_ like an expert at high wire acts and-

Who.

Was.

_That?!_

Her mouth dropped open in shock as the group wandered into the clearing, all of them peering around, but Akko only had eyes for the beauty in pink. Holy crap, was anyone actually allowed to look that good?

Akko could feel her cheeks warming up with a fierce blush under the thick green makeup as she continue to stare at the goddess who (in her humble and _totally_ not biased opinion) stood leagues above the others. She’d deny it to her dying breath, especially around Amanda who would absolutely use it to tease her, but she had a bit of a Princess Complex, and with the glittering tiara and air of authority, the one in pink checked a _whole_ bunch of boxes! Sure the other two girls weren’t _bad_ looking, but they couldn’t hold a candle to-

-wait, she knew the other two. That’s right, they were at the supermarket that one time! Yeah! And Miss Rum Tum Tugger was Hannah, the girl that got Amanda all flustered with the cucumber thing! She grinned widely as the possibilities stretched in front of her. If they were in a group, then Hannah was friends with the blonde goddess, so Akko’s chance of seeing her again was pretty dang high. Awesome! Now she just had to make sure that Amanda didn’t screw things up with Hannah.

A beep from the earpiece in her ear, and she blinked at the reminder from Constanze. Oh, right, she was supposed to be scaring them, not gawking at them. Clearing her throat, she looked over the group as a whole. Let’s see, a cyborg, a girl in coverall shorts, a farmer, the Rum Tum Tugger, and a CEO in pastel pinks. Kind of an odd mix, but…oh. Oh! _Wizard of Oz_, okay! Well, that was pretty much perfect, given her own costume. And that meant that the goddess was Glinda. Excellent! Taking a deep breath, she stepped off the platform, the now familiar feeling of falling pulling at her as she swooped through the air.

If anyone asked her later to repeat what she said, she wouldn’t be able to. She had been improvising the entire night, after all, trying to address the groups in a way that was more personal. She knew that what she said was tied in to the _Wizard of Oz_, and perhaps she was a bit more enthusiastic than usual with shooting the stream of fire over their heads than she really needed to be. But who could blame her when their costumes matched hers so perfectly? And her already very high opinion of ‘Glinda’ only soared higher still at how she didn’t try to run away. No, she instead squared up and drew her wand, even though it was just a prop. Drop dead gorgeous _and _brave! Be still, her beating heart! Even if she was completely enamored with Glinda (_Wicked_, anyone?), she still had a job to do. She gave her cue for the children to come out, and it was almost comical to see the naked horror on all their faces as the kids in their scary monster costumes crossed the rope barrier, defying everything that they had likely assumed about what the actors could do. She watched as the five of them fled into the building, the children following after, banging on the door until Akko heard another beep in her ear, letting her know that the group had moved on and away from the door.

“Great job, everyone!” she called out, and the children all headed back across the clearing towards their tent that was hidden from view, laughing and joking as they went. She smiled warmly as she watched them go. Honestly, the Elementary School helped so much in making sure that the maze was a success, and the kids were doing such a good job. She couldn’t be more proud of them. And hey, at least the night was almost done. She turned and peered up towards where her platform was hidden in the darkness behind the lights. Thumbing the button on the control, she was pulled up towards it.

Funny how the cold air seemed that much colder now that the clearing was empty again. The glimmer of delighted warmth she had felt at her brief interaction with the group and the jaw-dropping beauty of Glinda faded, and she shivered again as she got settled in on her little platform. Not all that much longer, and they’d be done. Hopefully Amanda would be able to convince that group to hang out at the after party. It’d be nice to even just see Glinda again, at the very least.

Sighing heavily, her breath pluming in front of her, Akko folded her arms and stuffed her hands under her warm armpits as she waited for the next group to scare…

xxxXXXxxx

Diana was nodding as Amanda finished describing the areas leading up to the building. “I figured that it must have been wires, like they use in Broadway shows that have flying in them. The use of lighting was also very well done, it seemed like she came out of nowhere.” She paused, smiling, obviously impressed. “Her costume was also very professionally done. She would have fit right in as a stunt double for the esteemed Idina Menzel.”

“It was also pretty clever, you know,” Andrew said. “Especially with the chainsaw fellow. He really emphasized that he wasn’t going to cross the rope, so when the little monsters actually crossed the rope into the clearing, it was quite the shock.”

Barbara leaned forward, her face almost hungry with curiosity. “Okay, so we know how you did the area before the building and the start of the maze itself, but what about the big monster that jumped down in that straightaway. How did you guys pull that off?”

Amanda laughed as she clapped in sudden delight. “Ah, yes! The main attraction of the maze itself!” She leaned back in her chair, green eyes sweeping over the room before they brightened. “Hey, Dave, get over here!” she called out, and they all looked over to see a tall and muscular boy with thick, dark hair stand up from a couch and make his way over to them.

Like some of the others, he was wearing dark furry leggings, but unlike the others, his ended sharply at the knee and he had what looked like knee-high stockings on. He shot all of them a curious glance as he reached them. “‘Sup, ‘Mands?”

“These guys are the group I was telling you about, they wanna know how your bit worked.”

He rolled his eyes. “Giving away all our secrets, huh? Alright, hang on.” He jogged back over to where he had been sitting, and he knelt down so that he could pick up some things that were lying on the floor next to the couch before returning to their group. Hannah blinked as she realized that he was carrying a large mask identical to the head and face of the monster from the maze as well as what looked like a hooved foot. “Here’s the head,” he said as he held out the bulky mask. “Be careful with it…it’s pretty sturdy but dropping it might break it.” They passed the thing around, and Hannah gave a low, impressed whistle at its heft. Imagine wearing _that_ for any length of time!

The boy, David, snagged a free chair and placed it next to Amanda before sitting down and pulling on the hooved foot, which turned out to be nothing so much as a cross between a platform shoe and a stilt. It took him a moment to get it situated, attaching it to straps hidden under the furred leggings. “Here, give me a hand,” he said to Amanda, and with her help he stood up, balancing carefully on the one foot, which easily gave him nearly a foot of extra height, and when connected to the straps, it blended seamlessly with the furred leggings. “There’s also the torso with arms and gloves with fake claws back over there,” he explained. “And the mask has a mouth piece that when you bite down on it, it draws the lips back, baring the teeth. This one is custom made for me…Chris, the other maze monster, has one of his own.”

“And the boy you killed?”

Amanda explained this one. “He’s wearing a harness, and his shirt has a hole in the back so the latch can connect to the harness. The first arm you saw is a crane controlled by stage hands. They snatch up our actor, play the ‘I’m getting brutally murdered’ sound file, they drop the fake leg that is all bloodied up and has the same shoe as the actor, and then speakers play the sound of something rushing over your heads. The monster also has a harness and he drops down, scaring the hell out of you.” She grinned. “They can only take a couple of steps before the harness holds them up…thankfully everyone runs before that becomes an issue. The ‘victim’ has his own fake arm, and it’s him who opens the door behind you in the next room. All the growls and shit are from speakers.”

Hannah glanced at the others, licking her lips, remembering the fear of the moment. “And the next room itself?”

Amanda’s grin was wolf-like. “That? That was Jasminka.”

xxxXXXxxx

_Some twenty minutes earlier:_

It might come as something of a surprise that Jasminka actually wasn’t all that fond of horror movies or of scaring people in general. She hadn’t even participated in previous haunted mazes, and was only taking part in this one because Amanda had literally begged her to do so. Normally, Jasminka worked with the rest of the Home Ec club to create baked goods as a fundraiser that went along with the maze. Between ticket sales and what she and her friends sold, the event made quite a bit of money for the school, especially when paired with the various sponsors that made it all possible. But this year was the last year for her and her friends, and Amanda wanted to go all out. It was so hard for Jas to say no when Amanda well and truly pleaded and begged like that.

She had some demands, of course. Namely, she got to choose the theme, and she would also be able to continue baking stuff even while scaring people for the maze. That had taken some doing, of course, but Cons was, as always, up to the task. Though, it was probably better not to ask where Amanda found the old-fashioned iron ovens that Cons had converted to use propane…what was important was that she had something to work with so that she could continue making food while working at the maze. And what better theme could she ask for than that of Hansel and Gretel? Inasmuch as she didn’t have much interest in the horror genre, she really did have to appreciate the attention to subtle detail that went into her section, the furrows the size of small fingers in the fake icing and piping, the missing candies, the bites taken from the exposed ‘ginger bread’…nothing that really leapt out at anyone, but when coupled with the many pairs of shoes (donations from the families of the school districts, mostly of footwear outgrown by their children that would be donated to local charities after the event was concluded) it painted a chilling picture.

And then, of course, there was her. Her mother had made her dress in a style that her great-grandmother who had spent her childhood in Russia would have recognized, and thankfully her hair’s natural color meant that all she needed was some makeup giving her wrinkles to make her look like a proper _babushka_. More troublesome were the pointed dentures that slipped over her own teeth to give her a shark’s grin…it was hard to talk with them, much less taste her batters to make sure they were good.

A terrified scream through the thick door, and she sighed as she dusted her hands off on her apron, knocking off the worst of the flour that coated them before she turned towards the wash station, washing her hands as the now familiar sound effects of her ‘son’ sounded through the closed door. That had nearly given her a heart attack the first few times that she had heard it, but by now she hardly even gave it any mind. Humming softly to herself as she finished washing her hands, her head turned as the door burst open, the noticeably terrified group rushing into her bakery before they slammed the door shut behind them.

Jasminka was slightly out of view, and she chose to keep still this time as the group looked around them, taking stock of their surroundings, even as Jasminka took stock of them. It took just a moment to place them…Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, and Glinda from _The Wizard of Oz_, only with an updated, modern look. Clever. Amanda would like that, especially with how much she liked _Wicked_, both the book and the musical…heaven only knew that she had listened to the soundtrack thereof enough times while hanging out with her friends that they _all_ pretty much had it memorized. Hmm. This group’s costumes…they were obviously handmade. She made a note to have Lotte link up with them later. She was into the cosplay scene and would like that.

Ah, there we go. The looks on their faces were starting to go from confused to understanding, and so Jasminka made her move, stepping out fully into the open, drying her hands on the towel she had tucked through the waist ties on her apron as she smiled warmly at them. “Oh, visitors!” she said as cheerily as possible, trying not to slur too much past the cursed pointed teeth.

They all whirled at that, staring at her with wide, uneasy eyes, and it was a struggle for her to keep smiling. Even though it was all for the bit, she still didn’t like being looked at with such distrust. Life was too short to not make as many friends as possible. The Cowardly Lion was _really_ looking around her now, and it was kind of uncomfortable to see the horror growing in those hazel eyes. “I’m so glad to be getting so many visitors, it gets so lonely. Why, I only just had some guests for supper!” Ugh. So cliché. ‘I’m an evil witch, I literally ate them for supper, haha, don’t you get it?!’ Seriously, the things she did for Amanda. “A shame, though, you’re all so _skinny_. You need some plumping up!” she said, and the door boomed loudly behind the group, and Jas hoped that they didn’t notice how she flinched at the loud noise, as well. Her only saving grace was that they _really_ jumped whereas she mostly just twitched. Oh, right, the script. She gave an exaggerated frown and sighed theatrically. “Oh, too late. My son is home…I guess you’ll just have to do as is.” She wrapped her fingers around the handle of her cleaver (that she had been using to cut apples with) before moving around the counter. “_I really like your costumes, they’re well-made and look really nice_,” she said in Russian, her voice flat and hollow, and they started edging away from her. “Why are you leaving?” she asked. “If you don’t move, I promise it won’t hurt.” She lifted her cleaver menacingly just as Josh, the ‘victim’ of the hallway, opened the door and wrapped clawed fingers from his monster glove around the edge of it.

“There’s another door!” the dark-haired girl playing Dorothy cried out breathlessly, and they were then practically running away from her towards the next door, and Jas didn’t bother following after them…she really didn’t like that room. The group slipped through the door, slamming it shut behind them, and there was a pause before there was a scream from beyond the closed door. Yeah, that seemed about right…she really, _really_ didn’t like that room. The door leading to the hallway opened, and Josh stuck his head into the room with a cheeky grin, his dirty blond hair artistically tousled to give it a disheveled look, fitting with the panicked air he presented to customers. “Boy, that group was lively!” he said with a laugh, and Jas nodded, just as an egg timer went off. Oh, excellent, the boysenberry pie was ready!

She hurried to the oven, carefully opening it up with an oven mitt as Josh moseyed around the room, and she was setting the pie on the counter when his phone dinged with a message. “Ah, good, they’ve moved on.” He moved over to the door that led to _that_ room and undid the lock before he started heading back towards the hallway, only to pause by the counter. “Cookies?” he asked with an exaggerated, pleading pout, and she laughed before grabbing a plate of chocolate chip cookies she had just made and a glass jug of milk from the fridge, knowing that they had disposable cups already out there.

“Make sure to share with everyone else out there,” she told him, and he smiled with barely concealed delight as he took the cookies and the milk.

“Will do, Jas, you’re the best!” he practically sang out before all but skipping out the door, closing it behind him, and Jasminka smiled fondly at the closed door before she got back to work. An apple pie was next on her list…

xxxXXXxxx

“So, wait, the _Hansel and Gretel_ witch is the same person who made all these treats?” Hannah asked incredulously as she looked down at the half-eaten blueberry donut in her hand. “Holy crap, she’s good! I honestly thought this stuff was made by a professional baker, not a high school student!” To add weight to her words, she took a large bite from the donut, groaning in bliss as the rich flavor rolled across her tongue.

“Be sure to tell her that when she gets in, she loves getting compliments on her food,” Amanda said with a pleased grin.

“Compliments? Hell, I’m about ready to do anything she wants me to, if it means getting to eat more of her stuff!” Frank exclaimed, and Amanda laughed at his words.

Diana hummed. “I’m actually rather pleased at that, that she is able to continue working and baking while still taking part in the maze.” Her head tilted slightly. “I am extremely impressed with the professionalism and hard work of you and your classmates, Miss O’Neill. You have well and truly earned your accolades.”

“Thanks! We’ve worked really hard on this, and while we’ve gotten a lot of help from families like Constanze’s, it’s our work that really makes this a success. Puts our school on the map, and there’s been plenty of people who took what they learned making this happen and applied it to life after high school.” Her smile turned slightly melancholy. “I’m really gonna miss it after graduating…”

The rest of them shared quick glances, and Barbara cleared her throat before taking a sip of her hot chocolate. “So the next area, it seemed to go from traditional themes to more futuristic. Whose idea was that?”

“Hm? Oh, that was our English teacher, Mister Chester. It’s loosely based off a book series about this guy named Bob Howard who works as a spy in an almost Lovecraftian world, something about magic being tied in with higher level math and Mandelbrot sets. I haven’t read it, but it sounds cool, and he helped set up the design. As for the person manning that room itself, that was Sucy.” Amanda shuddered. “Sucy scares me…”

xxxXXXxxx

_Some fifteen minutes earlier:_

Sucy hummed thoughtfully to herself as she peered into the terrarium set off to the side of her scare room, her focus wholly on the specimens inside. It was fascinating, wasn’t it? She wondered how many people actually realized what she had here, what she had imported at great expense (and dubious legality…Customs didn’t know anything about this, and for good reason…) to this small room in one of the exhibition buildings on the State Fairgrounds. Briefly, she wondered how much trouble she’d get into for having this here if she actually did get caught, if they _did_ realize, but then she pushed the thought out of her head. Such worries were for weaklings, and Sucy Manbavaran was _not_ a weakling.

There weren’t too many ants left, not after how long they had been in there, and Sucy wondered if the young queen was still alive somewhere inside the chambers of the small colony. She’d have to break open the sealed container and dig through the dirt to find that out, and that wasn’t the point of this experiment. The point of the experiment was to observe the other thing in the terrarium, and her eyes found the bodies of the ants hanging from the undersides of the plants in the case. Hmm. Proceeding much as she expected. Good.

_Ophiocordyceps unilateralis_. The infamous fungus that turned ants into zombies. She had always wanted to see it in action, so to actually observe the slender, almost graceful stalks that had erupted from the back of the ants’ heads was a dream come true. Pity she’d have to cleanse the terrarium with fire…she didn’t give two shits about laws written by weak-willed men, but not even she was willing to run the risk of possibly introducing an invasive species to the area. Not that their climate was conducive to the fungus surviving outside of the carefully maintained terrarium, but better not to take any chances.

A beep in her ear, one that she ignored as she straightened, taking down some notes about the observations she had made, especially the progress about the ant she had named Akko. Akko was doing well, and had been hanging off her leaf for the past three days. Her fungus was probably going to erupt soon.

Another beep, this one longer and more insistent, and she sighed, her eyes rolling as she tucked the clipboard behind the terrarium, grabbing her gasmask (fully functional and brought from home…it just tickled her that _no_ one had asked precisely _why_ she had a working gas mask) and slipping it on as she slipped between the tall tubes that were part of her scare. Stupid customers interrupting her research like this.

A moment later had her standing on the platform that held ‘her’ tube, which was crescent shaped rather than the cylindrical of all the others. A decent optical illusion, she grudgingly admitted. The way the plexiglass was cut made it nearly impossible to see that it wasn’t the same as all the others, so she could hide in plain sight with the mannequins in the other tubes.

It didn’t take long for the group to come into sight, walking around the corner that led to the hall, and Sucy had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at their almost corny costumes. She paused her research for _them?_ Pitiful.

She waited until the one girl with the stupid knee high rainbow socks was staring right at her as the others continued on before she flicked her gaze slightly. As expected, the idiot got all freaked out and called for her friend, the girl with far too much hair product. Sucy stayed completely still at the point, as tempting as it was to jump out at them. No, it was better to wait until _after_ the main attraction to scare them further. Thankfully it didn’t take Tweedledee and Tweedledum long to move on, and Sucy waited a moment longer to make her own move, picking up the fake but incredibly real looking knife up from where she left it on the floor. Any second now, and…

It was a short video made by some of the geeks in the programming elective course that was activated by Cons in her little command center, and even Sucy had to admit (never out loud, of course) that it was startlingly effective and realistic. The video played through projectors below and on top of the cylinder, the goop in the tube working well as a surface to play the video on, and when coupled with the large speakers tucked unobtrusively away…it was very easy to believe that you just watched a real life person get dissolved in acid or something, and boy would Sucy be lying if she didn’t enjoy the horror and disgust people reacted to the little show with. Honestly, it was the little things in life.

Plus, it was super distracting, allowing her to practically waltz up to them without being noticed, and she stood there for a moment, slightly swaying back and forth on her feet. It wasn’t until after the video had completely ended before the one with the stupid hair and the cat makeup noticed her, and Sucy was glad for the gasmask that hid her amused smirk as the other girl leapt back in shock, yelping out a very startled “Holy _fuck!_”

“_Who are you?_” Sucy snarled out in Tagalog, her words muffled by her gasmask. She lifted her knife, twisting it so that its edge caught the dim light, gleaming wickedly. “_Where did you come from?_” She took a threatening step forward. “_Die!_”

She had barely even flicked the knife through the air and they were running like scared little rabbits, and she stared after their retreating backs for a moment before she rolled her eyes again. Cowards. Eh, at least they were _gone_ cowards. Pulling off her gasmask once more, she set it on the table in the center of the room before retrieving her clipboard and heading over to the toadstools. They were doing quite well, she was pleased to note. Now if she could just work in peace for five freaking minutes without getting interrupted!

xxxXXXxxx

Hannah drew in a deep breath before letting it out, her cheeks puffing out. Barbara looked a little pale, and even Diana looked shaken, though not as bad as either Frank or Andrew. “Yeah,” she finally said with a nod. “That last room was really, really unnerving. That room alone would warrant signing a disclaimer and having to be old enough to see a rated R movie. And if this Sucy scares you, then I don’t feel so bad about her freaking me out.” The others nodded at her words. Then she grimaced thoughtfully. “But yeah. Overall. This was a really well done maze.” She grinned warmly at Amanda, who suddenly looked rather taken aback. “Thank you so much for inviting us, we really appreciate it. It’s been ages since we’ve all had the chance to hang out, and to do so while enjoying something that you obviously put a lot of time and effort into just makes tonight all the better.”

Wide green eyes met her warm gaze, and their eyes locked and was that a slight blush she saw on Amanda’s face?

A moment turned into two, but…she just couldn’t quite tear her eyes away, not when…

A polite cough, and the spell was broken, her attention going to Barbara who was holding her fist up to her mouth, a sly smile touching her lips. Uh oh. That wasn’t a promising smirk. “Anyway, now what? You said it should be ending now, right?”

Amanda blinked a couple of times before she shook her head, blinking. “Um. Yeah, right. In fact, I’m kinda surprised that they-”

Almost as if on cue, the door opened, and people began to pour in to the room, chattering excitedly amongst themselves as the room quickly filled up, from the elementary kids from the first clearing up to the high schoolers and the various teachers and other adults who had helped with the maze, and after a few minutes as everyone got settled in, an older man with wild white hair and round rimmed glasses climbed up onto a platform at the edge of the room, and he clapped to get everyone’s attention.

“Alright, everyone, settle down, settle down! Rogalio, I see you over there, don’t think I don’t! Okay, everybody listening? Good. Congratulations, that’s another highly successful day down!” Cheers and applause greeted those words, and he raised his hands with an exuberant grin. “Yes, yes, we’ve all done quite well! In fact, so well that we have matched the costs of operation…anything more we earn puts us in the green!” The cheer that met this announcement was nearly twice as loud as the previous one, and it took some time for it to get quiet enough that he could be heard again. “As always, a most heartfelt thanks to our sponsors and partners in the community, without them this wouldn’t be possible, and once more, a very special thanks to the von Braunschbank-Albrechtsberger family for lending us the technical assistance and equipment, we very much appreciate.”

“Hear, hear!” the crowd roared.

“Hear, hear indeed!” he said with a broad grin. “Now, don’t stay up too late, we still have tomorrow to run, but have fun!” He raised a cup of hot chocolate in a toast. “Let the party begin!”

xxxXXXxxx

Things got much livelier at that point, the students chatting excitedly as they talked about the day’s work, recalling their favorite scares, the customers that made them laugh the hardest, the times that something went wrong and they had to improvise.

Akko only listened to the stories with half an ear as she made a beeline towards the foot table. Her hair was an absolute bird’s nest, messed up from hours of flying through the air and wearing the witch’s hat, and she had already demolished half a pack of makeup wipes trying to get the green off of her skin, but at a certain point, a girl just _had_ to eat. And so she came to a halt at the table, pouring two full cups of hot chocolate before quickly stuffing as many donut holes into her mouth as she could fit, cheeks puffing out before she turned to make her way to any empty chair that she could find. The very last thing she expected was a cultured voice from behind her.

“Your act was most impressive.”

Jumping slightly, she turned, only to come face-to-face with the girl who was dressed as the modernized Glinda…the beautiful, brave Glinda. “Mmph?!” she mumbled past her mouthful of donut holes. Glinda’s eyes dropped down to her mouth and her stuffed cheeks, and Akko suddenly felt horrifically self-conscious, and not just for the mouth full of food! She really had only done the absolute minimum to take her face paint off, and knew from previous experience that her skin was still tainted a sickly green that would remain until she had the chance to well and truly shower, and the worst of it laid in her eyebrows and around her eyes. She was most definitely not looking great while Glinda was looking like she walked off the cover of a fashion magazine. Only one word sprang to mind: _fuck_.

But then Glinda smiled, the expression kind. “I’m sorry, I’m being rude. Please, eat.”

Akko proceeded to furiously chew before swallowing, chasing the donut holes with a healthy sip of hot chocolate. “You thought my act was impressive?” she finally managed to gasp.

A quirk of a finely sculpted eyebrow. “Should I not? Yours was the first that involved a witch and set the mood for the rest of the event.” Another smile, this one warm and secretive, setting Akko’s heart to pounding in her chest. “And besides, it takes a certain amount of bravery to fly through the air like that, to say nothing of shooting fire from your hand.”

And now Akko wished that she hadn’t tried to remove any of her make up so that it might have hidden the blush on her face. “Oh. Um, it was nothing, I assure you.” Then she noticed that Glinda was peering more intently into her face. “Y-yes?”

“Are those contacts?”

“Oh! No, not at all,” she said before chuckling nervously. “All natural. Caught a lot of grief about them growing up, it’s not a common eye color, is it?”

“They’re striking!”

The statement was so matter-of-fact that it took Akko a bit by surprise, especially with the determined glint that set in now almost fierce blue eyes. “They are?” Akko asked, shocked at the exuberance in Glinda’s voice.

“Yes. They fit you, and anyone who made fun of you because of them is a fool.” Akko merely stared at her with wide eyes, and Glinda paused before blushing, obviously uncomfortable. “I’m…sorry. I don’t like bullies, especially those that target something about someone that they can’t change.”

Akko smiled reassuringly. “Oh, well, I’ve got thick skin, and my friends back me up now.” She stuck out her hand. “Atsuko Kagari, but you can call me Akko!” Then she saw that her fingers still bore the traces of green paint.

But before she could lower her hand, Glinda took it, shaking it firmly, no hesitation in the gesture. “Diana Cavendish. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Akko.”

Akko’s grin widened. “Just Akko, please. ‘Miss Akko’ makes me sound stuffy!”

An amused smirk. “And is being stuffy such a bad thing? There are some that might describe me that way.”

“They’d use stuffy and not gorgeous?” They both froze at Akko’s words, Glin…er, _Diana’s_ eyebrows shooting up as Akko blushed heavily. “Um, that is…I just…sorry, my mouth sometimes just…”

“Runs away from you?” Diana offered helpfully, her eyebrows still raised. She took a breath before offering a reassuring smile. “Is that so terrible a trait? Words spoken in such a manner are often more truthful than those spoken more carefully.”

Akko still groaned as she buried her face in her hands. “It’s still embarrassing!”

A soft chuckle, only just heard over the hubbub of the party around them. “I won’t hold it against you.”

Akko groaned again before laughing as well. “I much appreciate it.” Then she lifted her head out of her hands, ready to say something else, only to freeze as she caught sight of the man who had just walked in through the door. She didn’t know that her face paled sharply, didn’t realize that she had drawn in a sharp breath.

“Akko, are you okay?” Diana was asking, but that wasn’t important, what was important was that…

“I’m really, really sorry, but I need to go!” she said over her shoulder, as she had already started to move. She _had_ to find Amanda, right now! It didn’t matter that she was being really rude right now, it didn’t matter that she was walking away from the beauty that had captured her attention, all that mattered was warning Amanda!

Diana watched the girl hustle away from her, an almost sick look on her face, and she wondered if it wasn’t something that Diana had said, but she couldn’t think of anything that would have brought forth such a reaction. Akko had simply looked towards the door, and then…

Diana looked over as well, but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, just a Sheriff’s Deputy standing just inside the door, looking about the festivities with a pleasant smile on his face. She frowned slightly, glancing towards where Akko had disappeared. Something was going on that she didn’t understand.

For her part, Akko’s panicked flight across the room drew the attention of not only the Deputy, whose eyes narrowed, but also of Hannah, who was hanging out with Barbara, almost bored out of her skull as Barbara and the witch who had first greeted them yammered on about the _Nightfall_ series. She recognized the other girl by her dark dress if nothing else, and so she tracked the other girl’s progress across the room with curious hazel eyes, watching as she found Amanda. The two spoke just for a moment before Amanda’s head shot up, an alarmed look on her face.

Then it was Amanda almost running across the room, heading towards a nondescript door set in the wall. Worried at the sudden change of mood in the taller girl, Hannah followed after her, and she managed to catch up with her just as Amanda reached the door. “Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked, and almost panicked green eyes glanced over Hannah’s shoulder. She hesitated for just a moment before her hand darted out, grabbing Hannah’s wrist, pulling her after Amanda as she went through the door, and Hannah blinked in surprise as she recognized the small room that Amanda had been set up in. “Amanda, _what_ is going _on_?”

“Just…follow me, okay?” Amanda said, her voice terribly strained as she pulled Hannah along, heading down the now brightly lit path in reverse from the way that they had come before at a ground eating pace. The experiment chamber, the corridor with the computers and occult symbols, the slaughter room leading to the candy room…Amanda had pulled out her phone and they paused only just long enough for her to dial a number before bringing the phone to her ear. It rang three times before her call was answered. “Cons? He’s here and I think he’s following me. I need darkness and guidance. Thanks.”

Then they were out in the maze beyond, and they had scarcely taken half a dozen steps when the lights went out. Despite the darkness, Amanda continued guiding them onwards, getting them around the corner leading to the maze proper as the sound of a door opening and closing behind them echoed through the otherwise silent air, and a thrill ran through Hannah. They were being chased by someone. “Amanda, what the fuck is happening?” she hissed.

“I’ll explain in a second, okay? I just need you to trust me!” Her phone buzzed, and she glanced at the screen before she took three more steps, only to slide a panel open, slipping into the narrow corridor that was used by the event staff to move around out of sight. “Come on, hurry!” she urged in a quiet, tense voice, even as the sound of booted feet running came from behind them.

Not having many other options, Hannah slipped into the tight space with Amanda, and the taller redhead slid the panel shut…just in time. Light flashed along the ground, leaking underneath the movable fencing, and the sound of footsteps grew louder.

Hannah squeaked in surprise as one of Amanda’s arms wrapped around her shoulders, drawing her close enough that their bodies pressed together, and Hannah came close to telling her off for manhandling her, and even might have if Amanda’s hand hadn’t clamped over her mouth. Glowering, Hannah turned her head to glare at Amanda, only to freeze in surprise. There was just enough light leaking past the small chinks in the fencing that she could see the frightened expression on Amanda’s face, and they stood close enough together that she could hear the strained rasp to her breaths and feel the rapid pounding of her heart. Amanda was well and truly scared of something.

“Come on out, Miss O’Neill!” came the deep voice, startlingly close, and Amanda sucked in a breath, holding it as their pursuer drew near. Hannah blinked in surprise as she realized that she could actually see through the black fabric covering the movable panel, especially since the man was lit by his flashlight. To him, it was a black, solid wall. To them, they could clearly make him out, and Hannah frowned in confusion as she watched the Sheriff’s Deputy walk slowly past them, playing the beam of his flashlight up and down the path he was moving along. “I know you aren’t that far away, I bet you can hear me. I just want to talk! Or rather, your _brother_ wants to talk!”

They were both scarcely daring to breathe now as he paused right outside the spot where they were standing. All that was needed for them to be given away was for him to catch the slightest sound that they made, and though Hannah had no idea why they were hiding, especially from a deputy, there was something about how scared Amanda was as well as the words that the deputy used that had her staying as still and quiet as possible. This…didn’t feel like a cop serving a warrant. Something didn’t add up right.

With a chuckle, the officer moved on at a slow, deliberate pace. “I can do this all night, kid. Make it easier for everyone and just come out, will ya?”

Amanda was trembling now, and Hannah moved without giving it thought, wrapping a comforting arm around Amanda’s waist, and after a pause, Amanda’s hand left her mouth, coming to a rest on her shoulder, bringing a blush to Hannah’s face. Despite the unease that roiled through her at their situation, standing this close to her…it was almost intimate, wasn’t it?

Amanda’s phone buzzed, and they both jumped, coming apart from one another as Amanda fumbled with the device, first turning the brightness as far down as she could before she read the message, the dim light illuminating her worried face, the shadows harsh across the angles of her nose and jaw and eyes. Then she powered off the screen and held out her hand. “Follow me,” she breathed, only just loudly enough for Hannah to hear.

“I will, but first…Amanda, seriously, what’s going on?” she asked just as quietly, the softness of her words doing nothing to hide the worry in them. “Did you break the law or something?”

A long, tense moment answered her before she could _feel_ Amanda sag in the darkness next to her. “I wish it were that easy. No. I haven’t. And I can’t tell you much of anything or else you’ll be involved, too.” She hesitated before carefully sliding the panel open again. “Get back to the party. I’ll be fine.”

From deeper in the maze: “O’Neill! Get your ass out here, I’m starting to get pissed off!”

Hannah frowned indignantly. “The hell I will! I’m not leaving you alone, and how dare you suggest otherwise!”

Amanda sighed. “You might come to regret this, Hannah, but fine. Come on.”

Hannah couldn’t say how long they spent in that maze, evading the deputy with the help from Cons, but it seemed to last a small eternity. Despite how hard the man searched, with Cons guiding them, they were able to skirt around him, even after he eventually discovered a sliding panel. Then, _finally_, he had to give up: his radio crackled to life, calling for a Deputy Samson to respond. With a disgusted sigh, he answered the radio which promptly informed him he needed to return to the station back in Blytonbury immediately. “Fine, O’Neill!” he had called out to the dark maze surrounding him. “Run away from your problems! That doesn’t change the fact that you’ll have that conversation, whether you like it or not!”

They waited until well after the boot steps had faded away, after the distant sound of a door opening and slamming shut echoed across the cavernous room before they moved. It was with caution that they exited, and Hannah almost expected the man to be lying in wait. It wasn’t until Amanda got a text from Cons saying that he had well and truly left before they breathed easy.

“Okay, seriously, what’s going on?” Hannah had immediately demanded once Amanda said they were good.

“I can’t tell you,” Amanda replied with a soft voice. “Trust me, it’s better that you don’t know.” The lights came back on, the two of them wincing at the sudden change of illumination before Amanda smiled at her. “But for all that…thank you. Thank you for coming out here tonight, and…thank you for being there for me. It means more than you know.”

Normally, Hannah would bull her way forward…she hated not knowing things, especially when it seemed so grave a matter, but there was something about the tone of Amanda’s voice and in the way she was looking at her that had her stilling her tongue. It took her a minute before she could finally bite out an almost bitter “Fine.”

Amanda’s smile turned relieved. “Thanks, really. Now come on, let’s get back. I don’t want your friends thinking I kidnapped you.”

They didn’t actually think that, as it turned out. Barbara had only given a _very_ suggestive smirk as she stared at Hannah’s lips, and it took a moment for her to realize that her makeup had smeared when Amanda had covered her mouth with her hand. She was too tired to try and correct that misconception as they all clambered into the car for the drive back. It was a much quieter ride, Barbara and Frank and Andrew carrying most of the conversation that Hannah was too worried to properly contribute to. At one point, though, Hannah glanced up to see that Diana was staring at her through the rearview mirror, blue eyes focused and worried. So, she wasn’t the only one who noticed something was amiss, it seemed.

Later, after she got home and had finally showered and was getting ready for bed, Amanda sent her a text. _‘thnks so much again for comin out, I had a g8 time.’_ And then, before Hannah had the chance to type a reply: _‘I’m sorry I can’t explain, but thank you for not asking. Don’t worry, I’m not in 2 much trble.’_

Hannah pursed her lips as she stared at the message before she finally decided on a reply. _‘No worries. It’s your business so I won’t intrude, but if you need anything, just let me know, ‘kay?’_

She would be lying down and with her lights off when Amanda’s reply finally came in. _‘Will do. Ur the best! <3 ;)’_

Hannah stared at the message for a long moment, focusing on the heart for far longer than was probably proper before she finally gave an amused huff. Shaking her head, she powered off the screen and rested her head on her pillow, drawing her covers up to her shoulder. Prying would just make Amanda skittish and possibly ruin whatever it was that they had with each other. Better to offer help than to stick her nose where Amanda didn’t want it. She believed Amanda when she said that she would come to Hannah if she needed anything, just as she hoped that Amanda truly believed in her offer for help.

After all, what else were friends for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh? Is that plot that I see? Amanda has some secrets that she's not sharing.
> 
> So far as this entire chapter goes, I honestly think that I liked Jasminka's part the best. She's best girl, and deserves far more love than we give her!
> 
> Please let me know what you think, I absolutely adore hearing from all of you!


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